The TV weatherman says Piers Morgan's resignation wasn't the conclusion he was hoping for.
Alex Beresford saw his Good Morning Britain co-host, Piers Morgan, storm off set and ultimately quit the show after he challenged comments made by Morgan about Meghan Markle.
On Tuesday, Beresford called out the 55-year-old TV personality for saying he didn't believe what Markle said during her interview with Oprah Winfrey, including her admitting that she was suicidal while still a senior member of the royal family.
While Beresford stands by his defense of Markle, he posted to Twitter on Thursday that Morgan's departure from the morning show was not "the conclusion I was hoping for."
"Over the last few years, Piers and I have had a lively, cheeky on-air relationship," Beresford tweeted. "We both wanted to be on the show Tuesday morning, and from our very public conversations on Twitter, we both knew how strongly our opinions differed on the treatment of Harry and Meghan pre and post the interview that has split the world."
The 40-year-old British weatherman continued, "I hoped we could reach a place of understanding. It's sad that we weren't able to get there, but challenging his opinion was not an outrage. On this occasion, we have to agree to disagree."
He concluded his message, "I didn't want [Morgan] to quit, but I did want him to listen."
Also on Thursday, Morgan tweeted a farewell message to the GMB team following his exit. "I had one goal when I joined @GMB - beat @BBCBreakfast in the ratings. On my last day, we did it. That was down to the hard work and dedication of the whole team. They don't all agree with me, some don't even like me, but we were a team... and we won. Thanks guys. I'll miss you," he wrote.
While Morgan is facing backlash, Beresford is being praised for speaking up for Markle.
"I understand that you don’t like Meghan Markle -- you’ve made it so clear a number of times on this program. And I understand you’ve got a personal relationship with Meghan Markle or had one and she cut you off,” Beresford told Morgan on Tuesday's GMB. "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."
Before walking off set, Morgan muttered, "OK, I'm done with this. You can come at me but not on my own show."
Beresford then reprimanded Morgan for storming off the program. "This is just diabolical behavior," he said. "I’m sorry but Piers spouts off on a regular basis and we all have to sit there and listen — 6:30 to seven o’clock yesterday was incredibly hard to watch, incredibly hard to watch. This is -- you know, he has the ability to come in here and talk from a position where he doesn’t fully understand."
This is not the first time Morgan has gone up against his GMB and ITV colleagues.
After he told morning show viewers flat-out on Monday that he didn't believe Markle, who said during her interview with Winfrey that there was racism within the royal family and the institution, TV personality Trisha Goddard pushed back.
"I’m sorry, Piers — you don’t get to call out what is and isn’t racism against Black people,” she told Morgan. “You can call out all the other stuff … but leave the racism stuff to us."
Also two years ago, the Los Angeles Times reports that it was Beresford who walked off set after having a heated discussion with Morgan.
"You know what, mate, you’re doing the weather. Your job is the weather," Morgan said at the time, adding, “Look at him, the little drama queen."
After Morgan's most recent comments about Markle, more than 40,000 complaints were made to the United Kingdom media regulator Ofcom. According to The Times, Ofcom announced it was launching an investigation into those complaints, which included one from the Duchess of Sussex herself.
Meanwhile, Morgan appears to stand by his statement, tweeting, "On Monday, I said I didn’t believe Meghan Markle in her Oprah interview. 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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