Piers Morgan congratulates ex co-star Susanna Reid on being 'ITV presenter survivor'

Piers Morgan has joked that his ex co-star Susanna Reid has won the title of "ITV presenter survivor" after Holly Willoughby's exit from This Morning.

Broadcaster Morgan posted an old photo from his Good Morning Britain days of himself and Reid in the ITV news programme's studio with former This Morning hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield as their guests.

He wrote: "Congrats ⁦@susannareid100 - you win ITV morning show presenter Survivor!"

Willoughby announced that she was leaving This Morning after 14 years with the ITV daytime show on Tuesday, following an alleged kidnap plot targeting her.

Schofield, who had been the show's star for 21 years and brought in Willoughby as co-presenter, quit in May when details of his affair with a much younger colleague emerged.

Read more: Who will replace Holly Willoughby on This Morning?

The pair had also come under fire during the Queen's lying in state in September 2022, when they were accused of "jumping the queue" after being spotted in a media line filing past the coffin.

Meanwhile, Morgan himself left ITV in 2021 after storming out of the Good Morning Britain studio live on air over a row about Meghan Markle.

He and Reid had enjoyed many a difference of opinion on air, but stayed on good terms after he left over his argument with weather presenter Alex Beresford following Markle and Prince Harry's explosive Oprah Winfrey interview.

Morgan now works for TalkTV, where on Tuesday evening's episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored he talked about his friend Willoughby's "terrifying" experience with the kidnap plot.

He said: "It’s clearly shaken her so badly she’s walked away from one of the top jobs in television."

"I’ve known Holly a long time. [It’s] terrifying," he added.

Posting a statement announcing her departure on Instagram, Willoughby wrote: "Richard and Judy said ‘we only look after this show, it will always belong to the viewers’.

"It’s been an honour to just be part of its story and I know this story has many chapters left to go. Sadly, however, I now feel I have to make this decision for me and my family."

Morgan said of the statement: "[The] last line said it all to me. This is because she has got young kids, she’s thinking, 'My God this is not worth it, I’ve got one of the best jobs in telly, so what. There is some lunatic out there'.

"I wish her all the best, she’s a great girl, Holly, I’ve known her a long time. Lot of fun with her over the years, what you see is what you get. She’s just a good laugh, a very talented broadcaster."

Morgan added of his own scary experiences with threats: "This kind of thing can freak people out and I completely understand it, I really do. She’s got a lovely family and she’s obviously just thought, 'I’m done'... I have had them myself [death threats] and I tell you what nothing happened when I reported it and that still staggers me.

"To get specific death threats on my son’s Instagram, and to report it to the police and they were not able to actually file charges. Quite breathtaking."

A man has been charged with an alleged kidnap plot and will appear before Chelmsford Crown Court on 3 November.