Famously blunt presenter Piers Morgan has been told to be nicer to Good Morning Britain co-host Charlotte Hawkins when he wishes her luck for her performances on Strictly Come Dancing, and the order comes straight from the top: his mum.
Charlotte struggled through the Cha-cha-cha in her last performance on the celebrity dance show, with her dance partner, Brendan Cole – the pair scored a low 12 – and Piers did not hold back in his assessment of her.
“I was horrified,” he said, on Monday’s episode of Good Morning Britain. “I thought you were going to be really good on this.”
He tried to get to the bottom of her performance, asking Charlotte if she was “putting in enough hours of practice?”
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Charlotte immediately assured him she was doing the work: “I’m putting in eight hours after every GMB.”
It didn’t seem to be enough for Piers. “You bombed,” he said. “I take an interest because you are representing us. Had you been drinking a little too much – for Dutch Courage?”
But he returned to the Good Morning Britain set on Tuesday suitably chastened by his mother, Gabrielle Pughe-Morgan. “My mother rings me up last night and says ‘Will you stop being so mean to Charlotte?’
“She said ‘I really like Charlotte, she’s a really nice person, and all you’re doing is being mean. It’s coming over really badly and you need to be more supportive to your colleague.'”
As Charlotte expressed her thanks for Gabrielle’s intervention, Susanna Reid wondered aloud why no one ever stepped in to make Piers be nice to her.
The conversation moved to the future – “So apparently I’ve got to be nice to you,” Piers said, “so any encouraging news from the rehearsals?”
Charlotte responded with optimism. “This week – I’m feeling good about this week. I can reveal that we’re doing a Tango, and it’s Top Gun themed, because it’s movie week.”
This news seemed to perk Piers up. “That is going to be fantastic,” he said. “Is it Danger Zone? Now we’re talking!”
Read more: Piers Morgan accuses Charlotte Hawkins of letting GMB team down on Strictly
With Gabrielle keeping her eye on Piers, Charlotte should be in for more support from her colleague – and perhaps he’ll learn to keep from open criticism, at least until he takes a crack at Cha-Cha-Cha himself.
However rude Piers is going to be, Charlotte and Brendan breaking out the Tango to Kenny Loggins’ hit, Danger Zone this Saturday is definitely something to look forward to.