Good Morning Britain stars joke about Piers Morgan’s NTA nomination: ‘Who was he?’

‘Is that some guy who used to work here?’ one guest joked

Good Morning Britain’s presenters cracked up while discussing Piers Morgan’s National Television Award nomination.

The former GMB host received a nod in the Best Television Presenter category just months after he left the daytime show following his controversial comments about Meghan Markle.

Morgan will compete against Ant and Dec, Bradley Walsh and This Morning hosts Holly Willoughby and Alison Hammond for the prize.

Presenting the show on Tuesday (17 August), hosts Charlotte Hawkins and Kate Garraway – the latter of whom was nominated for her documentary Kate Garraway: Finding Derek – discussed the nominations.

“We should also give a mention to Piers Morgan, who’s been nominated as well,” Hawkins said, eliciting laughter from their guests.

“Who was he?” joked The Daily Mirror editor Kevin Maguire. “It rings a bell, the name. Who is that?”

Fellow guest Amanda Platell then added: “Is that some guy who used to work here?”

Garraway then shared her own anecdote about Morgan, saying: “I remember when Good Morning Britain was nominated, it must have been two years ago... and he didn’t win and he was very cross. So we’ll see if he comes this time and see if he wins.”

Maguire added that Morgan was “permanently cross”, prompting more laughter, while Dr Hilary Jones said: “It’d be ironic if he wins it when he’s off-air!”

Piers Morgan on GMB (ITV)

Morgan stepped down from GMB in March as Ofcom confirmed it was investigating comments Morgan made about the Duchess of Sussex – following her tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey – including that he “didn’t believe a word” she said about having suicidal thoughts during her time as a senior royal.

The regulator said it received more than 41,000 complaints about Morgan’s remarks, making it one of the most reported incidents on TV of all time.

The National Television Awards will be hosted by Joel Dommett and will take place in London on 9 September.

You can find the full list of nominees here.