Piers Morgan slams Alastair Campbell's 'grovelling' apology after latter's 'GMB' blunder

English writer Piers Morgan has mocked Alastair Campbell over a gaffe he made while guest presenting Good Morning Britain this week. Piers referenced the incident in his Daily Mail diary column while taking delight in Campbell's slip-up. As he writes that he recently had to turn down a hug from presenter Mariella Frostrup due to social distancing rules, he added: "I haven’t seen a face so crushed since this morning when Alastair Campbell sealed his brief GMB presenting stint with a grovelling apology for mistakenly telling viewers the Queen had died". His column further read, "Ironically, this worst gaffe in breakfast show history may have killed off hapless Al’s scheming aspirations to be the new me. I’d give him a consoling hug, if it was allowed". 

Alastair Campbell's Good Morning Britain goof-up

Alastair Campbell, who is also the former Labour Party representative, made the blunder during the final hour of Wednesday's episode, marking an awkward end to his three-day hosting stint on the ITV program. Speaking to the guest Vinnie Jones on the subject of grief, Alastair falsely announced that the Queen had died, instead of referring to Prince Philip's death. Later, Jones started talking about his late wife Tanya, who lost her life in 2019 after a long battle with cancer. Moments later, Alastair realized his mistake and interrupted Vinnie to clarify.

Morgan was previously supportive of Campbell joining the GMB crew and had written in his column: "I’ve known Alastair for donkey’s years and, despite numerous bust-ups, always got on well with him". But, the two got into a Twitter spat days later when Piers blasted celebrity mental health campaigners, who he accused of making money from 'exploiting their myriad problems'. 

Piers Morgan had to leave the breakfast programme earlier this year after he refused to apologise for comment about Meghan Markle's interview with Oprah Winfrey. He had said that he did not believe claims made by the Duchess of Sussex, who had made remarks about her mental health and experiences of racism. Meanwhile, an official replacement for Morgan is yet to be announced by ITV.

IMAGE: PIERS MORGAN / ALASTAIR CAMPBELL INSTAGRAM