Alex Beresford was once known as a beefy meteorologist who presented the weather on Good Morning Britain – but that all changed when a feud with his ITV co-star unintentionally catapulted him to nationwide fame.
In 2021, just months after he presented the show for the first time alongside Kate Garraway, Alex famously confronted the show’s anchor… And the rest quickly became TV history.
After revealing how “grateful” he was to take on hosting duties, his fortunes changed yet again as a result of a very public spat. Here’s our deep dive into the fall out, and how Alex Beresford came out smelling of roses from the feud…
Broadcaster Alex Beresford and his Twitter spat with ITV co-star
Alex Beresford first joined Daybreak as a weatherman back in March 2012. Eight years on, the presenter was finally given his big break when he began co-presenting the show.
But just over six months later, Alex clashed with the show’s main presenter Piers Morgan. What should have been a healthy debate about Meghan Markle ended with Piers storming off set, and eventually quitting the show…
Fans of the pair might know that the former co-stars had already butted heads over Prince Harry’s wife. On March 5, 2021, Piers wrote on Twitter: “I think it’s maybe time to ban our Princes from marrying American women.”
However, Alex responded: “You ever stop and think maybe you should give this woman carrying a baby a break?”
Piers, referring to the Queen and Prince Philip, then fired back: “You mean like she’s giving a 94-year-old woman a break as her husband lies in hospital?”
The spat didn’t end there, with Piers calling Meghan and Harry’s Oprah interview “shameful”.
Broadcaster Alex Beresford and his feud with ITV co-star
Just days after Alex and Piers’ seemingly harmless Twitter volley, things escalated in the GMB studio. On March 09, 2021, the panel was discussing the Meghan and Harry interview and tension between the two presenters was evident from the off.
During the exchange, weather reporter Alex said: “I understand that you don’t like Meghan Markle… You’ve made that so clear a number of times on this programme.
“I understand that you’ve got a personal relationship with Meghan Markle, or had one and she cut you off. She’s entitled to cut you off if she wants to. Has she said anything about you since she cut you off? I don’t think she has, yet you continue to trash her.”
In shocking scenes, Piers stormed off-set, as Alex called his actions “pathetic” as well as “diabolical”.
Piers later broke his silence, defending his apparent strop. At first, Piers quote-tweeted a viewer who accused him of being a “snowflake”.
The follower said: “What a snowflake @piersmorgan turns out to be. If you dish it out, you’ve got to take it.” Piers responded, saying: “Agreed. I was annoyed, went for a little cool-down, and came back to finish the discussion.”
He insisted the incident was “real”, and denied the incident was for ratings. Some GMB viewers even begged for Alex Beresford to replace Piers Morgan on the show.
Why did Piers Morgan quit Good Morning Britain?
Later the same day, on March 09, 2021, ITV announced that Piers Morgan had left Good Morning Britain. It came following a statement that it was “dealing” with calls for the host to step down.
In a brief statement, ITV said: “Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain. ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add.”
Alex Beresford made it clear that he had NOT wanted Piers Morgan to leave the show. Taking to Twitter on March 11, 2021, he told his followers: “Piers’ departure sincerely wasn’t the conclusion I was hoping for. Over the last few years, Piers and I have had a lively, cheeky on-air relationship. We both wanted to be on the show Tuesday morning, and from our very public conversations on Twitter, we both knew how strongly our opinions differed on the treatment of Harry and Meghan pre and post the interview that has split the world.
“Personally, Piers has always supported my growth. He’s given me advice on several occasions. I hoped we could reach a place of understanding. It’s sad that we weren’t able to get there, but challenging his opinion was not an outrage. On this occasion, we have to agree to disagree. I didn’t want him to quit, but I did want him to listen.”
Alex Beresford was soon back presenting alongside Kate Garraway, and some might argue his career didn’t suffer after the feud with Piers Morgan.
Piers Morgan versus Alex Beresford – the feud continues…
Not one to enjoy having egg on his face, former tabloid journalist wasn’t ready to leave the feud there. The same month, in March 2021, he took aim at Alex Beresford.
Piers accused Good Morning Britain weather expert Alex of “trying to make name for himself” during their onscreen row earlier this month.
The ex-editor also claimed his feelings had been hurt by the clash, as he’d previously offered Alex career advice. He referred to Alex as “GMB’s occasional stand-in weatherman”.
He said: “I don’t mind outside guests trying to make a name for themselves by whacking me like this, but I wasn’t going to sit there and take it from one of my own team, especially someone who I’ve gone out of my way to help whenever he’s asked me for advice about his career. Realising I might say something I’d regret, I decided to leave the studio to cool down.”
Piers wrote he had received “nice” messages from the rest of the presenting crew, but mentioned Alex by name as not having dropped him a line.
Piers accused Alex of a premeditated attack
Talking during his Fox News interview, Piers later accused Alex Beresford of a “premeditated” attack on him. Piers said: “He’s not a journalist, but he’s somebody I’ve helped with his career a number of times when he’s asked me to.
“He sent me a private message in which he expressed some concern about what he felt I wasn’t really understanding about where Meghan Markle was coming from as a biracial woman.”
Piers continued: “The moment he came on air, he came with a pretty premeditated attack on me on a pretty personal level and frankly I just wasn’t going to have it. I walked off. I was quite angry in the moment, he claimed that I have a personal vendetta against Meghan Markle, which I don’t.”
Later, in the wake of the Will Smith slap at the Academy Awards in 2022, Piers admits he “walked out to stop myself slapping him”, meaning Alex. Piers also branded Alex an “idiot” while appearing on the Lorraine show in April 2022.
Weather expert Alex Beresford quit Twitter
The month after Piers Morgan and Alex Beresford’s public feud, Alex revealed he had quit Twitter and Facebook following “relentless” racist abuse.
Writing for The Telegraph, he said: “I haven’t announced it, but I have been forced to step away from Twitter and Facebook myself, because it was getting too much. I am a strong person, but I am not made of steel.”
Angry Piers reignites feud with Alex…
Dad-of-four Piers Morgan recently showed that he’s still fuming two years on from his departure from Good Morning Britain. In a new interview with Amol Rajan, Piers let loose on Alex Beresford for “launching a personal derogatory attack” on him.
He said: “I don’t mind a guest doing that, but I do object to someone who had asked to come on the show, who was on the team, who then makes a very personal attack on me.”
Piers continued: “And so, at that moment, I thought there are two things that are going to happen here. Either I’m going to lose my rag and do something I regret – or I’m going to go and walk off.”
He did of course “go and walk off” and did not return for almost 20 minutes. Two years has clearly done nothing to soften Piers’ feelings towards Alex. He went so far as to tell Amol: “Just for the record, I think he was a treacherous little [bleep].”
Read more: Alex Beresford ‘heartbroken’ and ’emotional’ at lack of contact with his son Cruz
Watch Alex Beresford on Celebrity Race Across the World on Wednesdays at 9pm on ITV1.
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