PIERS Morgan threatened to quit Good Morning Britain FIVE times before finally walking this week following comments he made about Meghan Markle.
The presenter, 55, shared a picture of a ticking clock on Twitter before he sensationally announced his exit from the ITV show after six years on air.
Follow our Piers Morgan live blog for the latest on his GMB exit…
But The Sun can reveal Piers had been counting down the days to his bombshell departure for some time.
The Life Stories host had warned ITV bosses – and even viewers too – that he could walk out and cut ties with co-host Susanna Reid at a moment’s notice.
Piers first threatened to quit his job four years ago LIVE on air.
He was furious after The Sun exclusively revealed how Love Island winners Kem and Amber had been snapped up to front a showbiz slot on GMB.
He’d often slammed the show’s bikini-clad stars as ‘air heads’ and made no secret of his complete lack of interest in all things Love Island, slating the contestants for making money by “having sex on TV”.
So perhaps it was no surprise that Piers wasn’t thrilled by the news and shared his reaction on Twitter.
He shared The Sun’s story back in 2017 and simply wrote: “I quit”.
Then in 2018, following three years in the GMB hot seat, Piers made TWO more serious threats to quit over his long working hours.
The newsman confessed he was a “prima donna” and rowed with bosses behind the scenes about his very early starts – saying they were “killing” him.
He admitted he hated getting up early and confessed he’d return to Britain’s Got Talent as a judge for work but said that Simon Cowell “can’t afford me”.
The TV star told OK! magazine: “I threatened to quit a couple of times.
“I can be a bit of a prima donna. I was coming in at 4am and it was killing me, but now they let me come in at 5:30am.
“(Now) I get more time off. GMB seems to be successful. So I said you can have me a little bit less, which might be quite popular, and they were prepared to do that, so I was happy to stay.”
But it wasn’t long before Piers would rattle GMB bosses again with more threats to quit.
Just eight months later the TV star found himself the target of a mean Twitter post from GMB’s Twitter team.
They mocked how “difficult” he was to work with in a cheeky tweet – and he warned he would leave if they continued to poke fun at him.
Piers would wait another year and a half to wield his power over GMB bosses before threatening to quit again.
But he correctly predicted his own fate, and said in 2020 that he will “possibly” leave Good Morning Britain next year.
He had viewers worried when he revealed it was his “last week” hosting the ITV breakfast show.
At first he failed to confirm he would return to the show after his summer break, but he soon clarified that he would be back on air in September 2020.
However, he admitted that his days on GMB were numbered.
The presenter read a message from a viewer that said: “I thought I heard you state you’re leaving at the end of the year.”
Addressing the camera, he replied: “I’m not”.
He then added: “Leaving next year? Possibly.”
