Piers Morgan claimed he was ‘prima donna’ and threatened to quit GMB 5 times

Piers Morgan shocked Good Morning Britain viewers this week when he sensationally quit the show after criticising Meghan Markle over her interview with Oprah Winfrey alongside Prince Harry.But prior to this, the opinionated presenter jokingly threatened to quit Good Morning Britain (GMB) five times – and even made bosses change his hours to keep him in the role.

Piers, 55, first threatened to quit his job in 2017 live on air, after it was announced Love Island winners Kem Cetinay and Amber Davies were to be given a showbiz slot on GMB.

He’d previously slated contestants of the show for making money by “having sex on TV”.

Reacting to the news that the pair would be given their own slot on Twitter, he joked: “I quit.”

In 2018 Piers he threatened to twice cut ties with the show over his long working hours.The loudmouth presenter rowed with bosses behind the scenes about his very early starts – claiming they were “killing” him and admitted he hated getting up early.

He also confessed he’d return to Britain’s Got Talent as a judge for work but said that Simon Cowell “can’t afford me”.

“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.”

Piers expressed a desire to quit GMB  just eight months after being ridiculed in a Twitter post from the show’s account, which poked fun at him – claiming he was difficult to work with.And in response the presenter warned he would leave if they continued to poke fun at him.Piers threatened to quit for a fifth time in 2019, saying that he would “possibly” leave Good Morning Britain the following year.

He had previously left viewers worried by saying it was his “last week” hosting the ITV breakfast show – and later clarified that he would be back on air in September 2020.He read a message from a viewer that said: “I thought I heard you state you’re leaving at the end of the year.”

And then replied to the camera: “I’m not”, before adding: “Leaving next year? Possibly.”