This Morning was briefly forced to pause its live broadcast on Thursday after broadcaster and journalist Piers Morgan accidentally swore during a debate with fellow guest Ashley James.
The former Good Morning Britain presenter was appearing on the ITV programme to promote his new book Woke Is Dead, and the discussion quickly turned to themes of modern masculinity and the expectations men face in today's society.
Joining hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley on the sofa, Piers argued that men should not cry in public. “What's wrong with being tough and manning up?” he explained, while Ashley – who often opposes his point of view – immediately challenged him, responding: “That is not a masculine trait!”
The exchange escalated as the pair debated toxic masculinity and the influence of the patriarchy, during which Piers let an expletive ("bulls**t") slip. Realising his mistake, he immediately covered his mouth. The programme paused momentarily as Piers apologised for his blunder: “Sorry! I'd like to apologise for what the guest just said live on air. We are a live programme, we apologise for Mr Morgan and he won't be invited back for at least three weeks.”
Later on in the show, Ben repeated an on-air apology to viewers, announcing: “Obviously, as Piers said, we are sorry that he has such a foul mouth. We do apologise for swearing.”
Piers then questioned whether the word he used truly counted as a swear word. When reminded that he had already apologised, he said, “Yeah but I didn't really mean it. It's not really swearing.”
The presenter, who now frequently broadcasts via his online platform Piers Morgan Uncensored, continued: “I'm now on YouTube where I can say what I think. The problem here is, it's a little bit over-sanitised.”
The programme resumed after the brief interruption, with Cat and Ben moving the conversation on. Later in the show, the hosts spoke to Alison Hammond and Ferne McCann about I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
