Piers Morgan has ramped up his bitter feud with former Breakfast TV rival Dan Walker by mocking his big-money move to Channel 5.
Dan, who has hosted BBC Breakfast since 2016, is joining 5 News later this year, replacing Sian Williams.
But Piers, who is launching a new show on TalkTV, couldn’t resist taking a fresh pop at Dan over his move.
Asked about their rivalry, Piers said scathingly: “Dan who? Hasn’t he disappeared to Channel 5 or something. He disappeared with his tail between his legs after we beat him in the ratings.
“It was actually quite priceless as we beat the BBC on my last day [on ITV ’s Good Morning Britain] so he couldn’t ever do anything about it.
“He could never beat us again. Anyway, best wishes to Dan. I hope he enjoys Channel 5. Is that still on TV?
Apparently, yes.”
Piers also took aim at GMB, which he hosted alongside Susanna Reid until he was given his marching orders in a row over Megan Markle.
He said ratings fell after he departed and he would aim to offer a home for those viewers who had switched off.
“I mean, I wouldn’t be looking to steal Good Morning Britain viewers, I will be looking to pick up all those who stopped watching it,” he says.
“Which judging by the ratings is a lot of people. So if you love Good Morning Britain when I was on it, and you miss me in that way, you know where to find me. There are a lot of people who were annoyed about what went down. They’re the ones I’d be after.”
He also said former co-star Susanna has yet to be in touch to wish him luck on his new venture.
“Has she wished me good luck? No I don’t think she has actually but there’s still time, I’m sure she will,” he said.
“We stay in touch. We had this arranged marriage which turned out to be very successful, and then we suddenly got divorced. Bang. Gone.
“I went from seeing Susanna get ready in her curlers at 4am every day to not seeing her. We text but it was all a bit dramatic and sad. It ended in a silly way but their loss will be TalkTV’s gain.”
Pier’s war of words with one-time rival Dan usually played out on Twitter where both had large followings.
After Piers left, Dan called him a “brilliant broadcaster” and insisted that he enjoyed their “jousting over the years”.
But he added: “It has been nice to see some of the other great personalities and presenters have a bit more space to talk.”
Dan will present recently relaunched flagship news bulletin 5 News, as well as “fronting a range of new programming on the channel”, Channel 5 said.
TalkTV is launching Monday April 25. Pier’s show - called Uncensored - is at 8pm, and will also air on Fox Nation in the US and Sky News Australia.
An hour-long panel debate, The Talk, featuring Sharon Osbourne, will air at 9pm.
It will bring together five famous faces with different backgrounds and views to debate current affairs.
