It is only in the last couple of years that Piers Morgan has become a household name here in Australia – and it’s for all the wrong reasons.
The Good Morning Britain host’s incessant bullying of the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, has been well-documented – Morgan has dedicated hundreds of column inches to criticising the royal, after she allegedly ghosted their friendship when she first met Prince Harry.
But prior to that, the journalist has had an expansive career as an editor of British tabloid newspapers, before segueing into television by way of the judging panel of America’s Got Talent in 2006.
In an interview in October 2019, Meghan Markle admitted that she was struggling behind the scenes. Post continues below.
Now, co-host of Good Morning Britain and a columnist for the Daily Mail, the 54-year-old has been using his platform to attack Meghan Markle and her husband, Prince Harry, most recently for their decision to step back from their roles as senior royals.
But while he details every move of the royal couple’s relationship, what do we actually know about his own personal life?
First wife and three sons.
Morgan married his first wife Marion Shalloe, a nurse, in 1991. The couple had three sons – Spencer, 26, Stanley, 22, and Bertie, 18 – but divorced in 2008.
Second wife and a daughter.
Two years later, Morgan married his second wife, fellow journalist Celia Walden, who is the daughter of Conservative MP, George Walden. In November 2011, they had a daughter, Elise.
Walden, 10 years her husband's junior, is a feature writer and former gossip columnist. In 2009, she wrote a novel Harm's Way and in 2011, she wrote the memoir Babysitting George, about the time she spent with legendary footballer George Best, before his death from alcohol use disorder in 2005.
Last year, in an interview with Amanda Holden on Heart FM, Morgan spoke about the first time he met his now wife.
He said: "I was doing a speech in front of 1000 people – magazine editors – in some fancy hotel in Mayfair and I absolutely died on my backside to the extent that they were openly jeering me, and the only person that was laughing was Celia, who I’d never met, and I went 'who’s that?'"
"She said 'that just bombed' and I said, 'I thought that was hilarious' but she was laughing really at my discomfort. So I realised then that she would be perfect bride material!"
Later, on Good Morning Britain, Morgan revealed that although they soon started dating, Walden initially refused to marry him.
He said: “On the second day I met my wife and I told her I was going to marry her, that’s exactly what she said.
“She turned to me with that same face and said “you will never ever marry me”.’
Apparently Walden even followed up her statement in writing, which Morgan read out at their wedding.
Spencer Morgan
Piers Morgan's eldest son, Spencer, has followed in his father's footsteps, forging a career as a sports journalist. Spencer was educated at the $33k a year Thomas's Battersea, the same private mixed prep school currently attended by Prince George.
Spencer's Instagram shows he enjoys a lavish lifestyle, and includes photos of him cosying up to celebs such as Beyonce, Cristiano Ronaldo and Niall Horan, and he's been featured on the infamous Rich Kids of Instagram account.
Top Comments
Criticizing a publicly funded figure who is meant to represent a public institution to an accepted standard is not "incessant bullying".