Piers Morgan has defended his old opponent Jeremy Clarkson after rumours that he had been fired as presenter of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, describing their positions as ‘cancelled by ITV’.
It was recently reported that the host’s stint on the ITV show has come to an end following the uproar caused by his caustic letter about Meghan Markle earlier this year.
Clarkson claimed that he ‘hated’ Meghan on a ‘cellular level,’ and ‘dreamed’ of her being ‘paraded’ through the streets with ‘excrement’ thrown at her, subsequently apologising for the post, which became the most-complained-about-item-ever at the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso).
The Sun also apologised and stated it regretted publishing the editorial, which was later deleted off the website.
Carolyn McCall, president of ITV, revealed to Variety that the station has engaged Clarkson for the next season of the show, but no further agreements had been made with the TV star as of yet.
‘We have a contract. We’re contracted to this [season], so we will do that. And then we have no future commitments. And we haven’t made any statements about that,’ she said.
After the rumours grew, Clarkson rushed to Twitter to reject them, saying, ‘So many wonderful comments about today’s rumours. But don’t worry. Lisa and I have neither broken up, nor have I been fired as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire presenter.’
Clarkson was also responding to the apparent rumour that he and his partner Lisa Hogan, with whom he has been in a relationship since 2017, had split up.
During his TalkTV show Uncensored, Morgan debated Clarkson’s purported ‘cancellation,’ responding to contributor Dr Tessa Dunlop’s claim that he was ‘beyond his prime,’ saying, ‘He’s not actually, I believe his farm thing’s doing pretty well,’ referring to Clarkson’s Farm on Prime.
He also brought up Clarkson’s apology for what he wrote about Meghan Markle and commented: ‘My issue with the whole woke brigade is that even when you do issue a grovelling apology it’s never enough. The never accept it; they throw it back in your face.
‘Is it right for a clumsy, stupid, bad joke – it was intended as a joke, no one supports it – but should he actually lose his ITV contract?’
Morgan later commented: ‘I can’t believe that I’m the one that’s got the scar on his head from his fist and I’m the one defending him!’
He and ex-Top Gear star Jeremy had a long-running animosity that infamously erupted into violent confrontations over the years, but they appear to have buried the hatchet more lately and are now content with friendly sniping.
When it was suggested that Morgan may replace Clarkson on the famous game show, he said, ‘Well, now you’re talking!’ ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’ may be my return to ITV.
On Wednesday night, ITV confirmed the status of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and Clarkson, stating that ‘for the avoidance of doubt, neither Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? nor Jeremy Clarkson have been cancelled’.
‘As we have stated for several weeks, ITV is legally committed to a future series of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?,’ said an ITV official (which has now been recorded.)
‘There are no further commissioning commitments beyond that currently as is typical with such shows where we make commissioning decisions on a series by series basis.
‘Therefore, for the avoidance of doubt, neither Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? nor Jeremy Clarkson have been cancelled.’
ITV boss Kevin Lygo previously said Clarkson’s comments about Meghan were ‘awful’, but ‘at the moment’ the broadcaster plans to keep him as host of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
Uncensored airs on TalkTV weeknights at 8pm. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire airs on ITV and is available to watch on ITVX.