Piers Morgan has made a shock return to the Good Morning Britain studio, and he couldn’t resist making yet another dig at his former co-worker and rival, Alex Beresford

Four years after his heated exit from Good Morning Britain, Piers Morgan is back in the studio, but it would appear he’s yet to heal his rift with Alex Beresford.

Today, the opinionated broadcaster returned to his former workplace to discuss Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s recent US visit, and viewers were surprised to see him back behind the famous desk alongside hosts Susanna Reid and Ed Balls.

While wrapping up his segment, Piers, 59, couldn’t resist having a pop at his old rival Alex, with whom he famously clashed shortly before he stepped down from GMB.

Addressing Lorraine Kelly in the studio ahead of her 9am show, Piers said: “Lorraine is over there – hello!” Lorraine replied: “Isn’t it good to have him in here?” Making reference to his former GMB co-star, who could be seen giggling alongside Ed, Piers retorted, “She couldn’t bring herself to say it. All we need is Alex Beresford, and we’ve got the whole family back together.”

Here, the Mirror takes a look at Piers and Alex’s bitter feud, which appears to stretch back much further than that infamous storm-off…

Co-worker tension

Viewers long suspected that the pair weren’t the best of friends ( 
Image:
ITV)
Back in 2019, Piers mocked “emasculated” Daniel Craig after the James Bond star was spotted carrying his newborn baby daughter in a papoose. Taking a different view, Alex, 44, revealed he’d carried his own son Cruz in a papoose, prompting Piers to cry out: “If this is the future of mankind, then we are dead.”

Alex said at the time: “I was a modern man. I used to wear the papoose and do some housework and help out.” Addressing Piers, he pointedly added: “Some stuff you would never have done.”

As papoose-gate rumbled on, GMB bosses even launched a poll to see who fans found to be the most attractive, Piers or Alex. Feeling confident beforehand, Piers declared: “Thick women would prefer Beresford, dimwit Beresford with his papoose and his tattoos. Any woman with a brain would pick me.”

Unfortunately for Piers, Alex ultimately picked up 70 per cent of the overall vote, likely doing nothing to ease tensions between the pair. Also, in 2019, Alex had a frosty response for Piers when he enquired about what the weather was looking like ahead of the Cricket World Cup, cooly telling him: “I don’t work for you.” This sparked yet more rumours that the pair weren’t exactly the greatest of chums.

Then, in February 2021, just one month before the argument that changed everything, Alex admitted he’d never before tuned into Piers Morgan’s Life Stories but would be watching his interview with Chris Eubank. This admission was made while Piers was away for the half-term break, with Alex telling Charlotte Hawkins: “I have not actually watched Piers Morgan’s Life Stories”.

When Charlotte issued a stunned “What?” Alex responded: “Oh, did I just say the wrong thing?” Then, when by Charlotte whether he thought he’d “get away with it”, Alex jokily replied: “I don’t see him that often anymore”.

Hitting back via social media platform X, then known as Twitter, Piers tweeted: “To be fair, I’ve never watched his weather reports.”

Explosive Meghan Markle row

The outspoken broadcaster stormed off set after Alex called him out ( 
Image:
PA)
Although GMB viewers had long suspected Piers and Alex weren’t on drinking buddy terms, their fiery fallout over Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, left no doubt that the pair did not see eye to eye.

On March 9, 2021, the morning after Meghan and her husband Prince Harry joined Oprah Winfrey for a bombshell interview, Piers entered the studio all guns blazing, accusing the Duchess of not being truthful about the suicidal thoughts she experienced during her time at the palace.

Piers, who had long expressed his dislike of Meghan, raged: “I’m sorry, I don’t believe a word of what she says, Meghan Markle. I wouldn’t believe it if she read me a weather report. The fact that she’s fired up this onslaught against our Royal Family, I think, is contemptible.”

He also took issue with Meghan’s claims that there were “concerns and conversations” over how dark Prince Archie’s skin colour would be, before he was born.

Offering his own thoughts in response to Piers’ outburst, meteorologist Alex said: “I understand that you don’t like Meghan Markle [Piers] – you’ve made it so clear a number of times on this programme, a number of times. I understand 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, but yet you continue to trash her.”

Taking issue with this criticism, Piers butted in, announcing: “OK, I’m done with this” as he strode off set, barking: “You can trash me mate, but not while I’m [inaudible].”

Branding Piers’ behaviour as “diabolical”, Alex continued: “No, no, no – oh, do you know what, that’s pathetic. I’m being serious. This is absolutely diabolical behaviour. I’m sorry, but Piers spouts off on a regular basis, and we all have to sit there and listen. At 6.30 to 7 o’clock yesterday was incredibly hard to watch, incredibly hard to watch.”

Alex went on to explain how Meghan’s story had resonated with him personally, as he himself had previously dealt with a former colleague asking him whether he was “worried” about “the shade of cocoa” his own baby would be.

Delving further into his stance via social media later that same day, Alex wrote: “I wish I had the privilege to sit on the fence. In order for me to do that, I would have to strip myself of my identity, and that’s not something I can do. It’s not any of our places to pick apart claims of racism in order to make us to feel more comfortable.”

Piers’ tirade attracted more than 41,000 Ofcom complaints, and he ultimately stood down from his position, while standing by the comments he’d made about the Duchess of Sussex.

‘Treacherous’ accusations

Piers has previously accused Alex of being ‘treacherous’ ( 
Image:
ITV)

Recalling his own thought process during the initial altercation, Piers remembered: “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. I don’t like to think about what I would have done. I was certainly looking at him thinking, ‘Yeah, I better leave the room’.”

He added: “Just for the record, I think he was a treacherous little p***k. So he can say what he likes about me. He absolutely has a right to his opinion. That is my opinion about him.”