Ahead of Piers Morgan Uncensored, the TV host's new interview-chat show which drops this evening on Talk TV, Piers Morgan has appeared in an interview himself on The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett. During the hour and a quarter interview, the broadcaster and Dragon discuss everything from Piers's career to the controversies he's been a part of over the years and they also get into his opinions on the topic of mental ill-health.
Discussing his views on how mental health and mental illnesses are discussed by UK society, he said: "I think this generation has lost the ability to look at mental strength and resilience, triumph over adversity and being tough in difficult times, as badges of honour. They've almost become badges of shame. It's a contentious issue and people say 'you're mocking mental health' but I don't think so. I think we should separate mental health from mental illness. We all have mental health, but if you have a mental illness you need treatment."
Later in the interview, he added: "I'm a very rare voice in the public arena, who is prepared to give a slightly different perspective. I read a report last year that said 33 million people in Britain are mentally ill. No they're not. It's crap. It's absolute crap." He continues: "And when a society pretends that is the case, because a lot of people are identifying as mentally ill when actually they just have anxiety about exams or relationships or whatever it may be - when we do that, it means the people who really need help, are not getting it."
He added: "It's not about being callous or insensitive, I think my kids would tell you I spend hours talking through problems with them, but always I come back to 'look, life's tough and you've gotta keep pounding'."
Piers Morgan made the news last year when he stormed off the set of Good Morning Britain, following an on-air row with weather presenter Alex Beresford over the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s interview with Oprah Winfrey. Piers said said he did not believe Meghan Markle's claims of mental health problems in the interview, and his comments received the most complaints to Ofcom it its history.
The Diary of a CEO is available now on YouTube. Piers Morgan Uncensored will air on TalkTV on April 25.
