Susanna Reid called Good Morning Britain to a brief pause on Wednesday as she thanked former colleagues including controversial ex host Piers Morgan live on air, on the occasion of her celebrating 20 years in the industry. And her tribute to Piers came two years after he made a tumultuous exit from the ITV show, following a walk out and row with bosses.
Sitting next to Ed Balls for GMB's third show of the week, Susanna had some tweets from viewers read to her by colleague Charlotte Hawkins, as people at home were quick to pass on their congratulations.
Prior to joining the ranks of Good Morning Britain, where she has been for close to a decade now, Susanna was famous for being an anchor on BBC Breakfast, alongside her late friend and co-host Bill Turnbull, who she was quick to pay tribute to. She also singled out ITV colleague and fellow GMB star Ben Shephard for praise, adding: ""Obviously, a massive thanks to Ben, who is not here this morning but we started Good Morning Britain together along with you Charlotte of course and Sean as well."
And then she moved onto Piers, who she fronted GMB with for six years, prior to his explosive departure from the programme in 2021, following a fraught om air clash with Alex Beresford over Meghan Markle, which saw him walk off set and then announce that he'd quit the show hours later.
Piers suggested he quit as she refused to back down on his accusations that Meghan had 'lied' about the Royal Family but, in a move that could have got her employees' backs up., Susanna thanked the outspoken presenter, saying: "A a huge thank you to Piers Morgan of this parish, five years alongside him. He made me bolder, more argumentative, more difficult I think, more probing, asking the tricky questions and going into battle every morning."
She ended her speech: Slightly different since then but definitely a big thank you to everyone I've presented with over 20 years. Getting up at 3.45 and I'm still here."
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