Piers Morgan left GMB earlier this week and now Kate Garraway and Dr Hilary Jones have paid tribute to their former co-star.
The presenter left the show on Tuesday after sparking 41,000 Ofcom complaints over his comments on Meghan Markle‘s revelations in her Oprah interview.
On Thursday’s show, Kate said the presenter has been “very supportive of me personally” and their “friendship will go on”.
What did Kate and Ben say about Piers Morgan on GMB?
Opening the programme, Kate said: “That’s the thing about Piers, he is very passionate and does fly kites and has debates but it always comes from a place of authenticity.
Read more: Piers Morgan GMB exit: Susanna Reid ‘angry and upset,’ claims expert
“He always believes in what he says and he’s left.”
She continued: “He’s decided to quit and, as he put it himself, fall on the sword of free speech.
“But as you rightly say I’ve known him a long time before he started working on this show and our friendship will go on, our personal friendship.
“He’s been very supportive of me personally. It’s a different show but the show goes on.”
Meanwhile, Ben Shephard said: “As Susanna [Reid] said yesterday and that’s absolutely crucial…
“…and it’s crucial that we appreciate and understand that right now particularly in the middle of a pandemic and what we’ve seen our frontline nurses and doctors going through, and the concern of the mental health impact of that.
What did Dr Hilary say?
“The debate and concern about mental health is something that we take very seriously and is hugely important to all of us.”
In addition, Dr Hilary also paid tribute to Piers and said he had a “very generous heart” and was “loyal”.
The medical expert said: “I had my spats with Piers but he took politicians to account, he probed, pushed.
“I think he did champion the little people, the people who had no voice.”
He added: “Of course he had his strong opinions and that polarises people into either complaining or praising. But people often shout louder when they’re criticising.”
Earlier this week, ITV confirmed Piers was leaving the show.
It came after Ofcom said it was investigating the presenter’s comments about the Duchess of Sussex.
Piers had said he “didn’t believe a word” Meghan said in the interview after the former actress opened up about feeling suicidal while pregnant with son Archie.
This led to a backlash from viewers and mental health charity Mind said it was “disappointed” by Piers’ reaction.
Piers shared a message on Twitter on Wednesday to say he still doesn’t believe Meghan’s claims and revelations from the interview.
He wrote: “On Monday, I said I didn’t believe Meghan Markle in her Oprah interview.
Read more: Will Piers Morgan’s Life Stories continue? Fans fear for show’s future after host quits GMB
“I’ve had time to reflect on this opinion, and I still don’t. If you did, OK. Freedom of speech is a hill I’m happy to die on.
“Thanks for all the love, and hate. I’m off to spend more time with my opinions.”
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