Susanna Reid has admitted she feels more able to be herself on ‘Good Morning Britain’ than she did as a presenter on rival show ‘BBC Breakfast’.
In 2014, it was confirmed that Susanna would be bidding farewell to the BBC after more than a decade as a presenter on its ‘Breakfast’ show, to head to pastures new over at ITV.
Discussing how she feels about the move four years later, Susanna told presenters Jane Garvey and Fi Glover on the podcast ‘Fortunately’: “I am freer to be who I am [at ‘Good Morning Britain’]. The BBC requires you to be neutral. Now I can show a bit more of me.”
During the interview, Susanna also reiterated comments she recently made on Twitter, in response to critics suggesting that she should step down from the show, due to co-host Piers Morgan’s increasingly controversial contributions to ‘GMB’.
“Why should I give up my paid employment because of the person sitting next to me?” she said. “That doesn’t make any sense.
“This is my living, this is how I pay my mortgage. It would be awkward if I got up and left – but I don’t have any inclination to. People also have a go because I take issue with the person sitting next to me. That’s when I know I’m winning. I’m staying right where I am.”
In response to her critics, Susanna responded last week: “My skin just gets thicker by the second. Half my critics think I should leave MY paid employment because THEY take issue with the person sitting next to me.
“The other half think I should leave, BECAUSE I take issue with the person sitting next to me. I’m staying right where I am.”
Journalist Ash Sarkar, whose interview on ‘GMB’ went viral last week when she branded Piers Morgan an “idiot” for not having his facts straight, recently defended Susanna in an interview, insisting: “I’ve always found her very fair… she clearly understands how to play the foil, but she’s a respected reporter.”