British television host Piers Morgan took a moment to thank Meghan Markle when he stood up to accept an award at the Television and Radio Industries Club ceremony in London on Tuesday.
Morgan, host of “Piers Morgan: Uncensored,” took home the Interview of the Year prize for his one-on-one chat with soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo. During that interview, Ronaldo was highly critical of Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag — and within days of its airing, the star forward made a very public exit from the club.
And while Morgan took some time during his acceptance speech to acknowledge Ronaldo and thank him for agreeing to do the interview, he also reserved some praise for Markle.
“I want to thank Meghan Markle because, if you think about it, without her contribution to my career I would never have gone to TalkTV,” Morgan joked, adding, “I would never have been standing here with this award.”
Morgan was referencing his abrupt exit from his previous position as a host on ITV’s “Good Morning Britain” — a post he lost after a heated on-air debate with weatherman Alex Beresford over the bombshell interview Markle and husband Prince Harry gave to American television host Oprah Winfrey.
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Responding to Markle’s claims that the Royal Family had been racist toward her and even Archie, her first child with Prince Harry, Beresford defended her and suggested that Morgan’s personal history with her was the real reason he had a problem with her comments.
“I understand that you’ve got a personal relationship with Meghan Markle and she cut you off. I understand that you don’t like Meghan Markle, you’ve made it so clear a number of times on this program, a number of times. She’s entitled to cut you off if she wants to,” he said. “Has she said anything about you since she cut you off? I don’t think she has. But yet you continue to trash her.”
Morgan responded by walking off the set, saying, “OK, I’m done with this. Sorry. You can trash me, mate, but not on my own show. See you later.”
His official exit from the show came just a day later, prompting the move to TalkTV.