Sitting alongside Ed Balls, Good Morning Britain’s Susanna Reid thanked her fellow colleagues such as Charlie Stayt, Bill Turnbull and Ben Shephard on Wednesday as she celebrated 20 years of “getting up early”. She also touched on her time with TalkTV presenter Piers Morgan, claiming he made her “bolder”. It comes after Piers claimed he felt “let down” by Susanna after he left GMB in March 2021.
Ed asked: “What is your biggest fan girl moment in 20 years? Where you sort of thought ‘I can’t believe I am doing this interview?'”
Susanna immediately recalled: “Oh I remember! It was sitting down in a hotel room with Meryl Streep, the biggest Hollywood superstar on the planet.
“I was there with Charlie Stayt because we were working on BBC Breakfast and we sat there, and she sat down and we looked at her.
“She looked at us and we were both so starstruck she had to say ‘Has either of you got a question?’ to kick off the interview!
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“Look, as I look back at that 20 years in breakfast TV I would just like to say thanks to everybody else who has been involved in the journey along the way.
“I see all the individuals I have sat next to, you don’t do this alone in breakfast TV so it is fantastic to have you here.
“Obviously it is very emotional to see Bill because we have lost him and that remains very painful and he taught me everything I know about presenting.
“But also, wonderful characters that I have presented with, working alongside Ben [Shephard] and Charlie.
“And then Piers. I mean looking at that moment in New York when Trump won the US Presidential election back in 2016.
“Who was the person who went against the tide and said ‘This guy is going to win the American Presidency?’ and I think you can probably see the look on my face when we announced when Trump had won.
“You can see, it is written all over Piers’ face, ‘I was right about that wasn’t I’. So thank you to everybody on this journey.
“And thank you to you the viewers as well because it is obviously down to you that any of us are here.”
Later in the show, Charlotte Hawkins read out some of the tweets that Susanna had received from viewers.
Once again, Susanna took a moment to thank one of her co-presenters Ben and decided to re-thank Piers.
Discussing her time with the controversial journalist, she explained Piers made her more “bolder, argumentative, difficult and probing during hard interviews”.
The tribute from Susanna comes as a surprise as Piers slammed his former co-star last week and explained he felt “let down” after he stormed off Good Morning Britain.
The comment came after Gary Lineker’s controversy with the BBC, which saw one fan ask Piers if he was “disappointed” that his former colleagues didn’t back him the same way.
The Uncensored presenter replied to the tweet: “Would have been nice to see the same solidarity.”
A source claimed to OK!: “Piers’ tweet was a cheeky dig at Susanna. He feels not just the TV executives should have been more supportive.
“But his co-hosts – including Susanna – should have been, too. No one came out and backed him, only his family, no one he worked side by side with. He felt let down.”
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.
