BBC Breakfast host Dan Walker has issued a public apology to his Good Morning Britain rival Susanna Reid for calling her out on Twitter over an article he had ‘misread.’
The broadcaster, 42, admitted he had ‘misread’ Susanna’s intentions’ after the ITV news anchor, 48, penned an opinion piece for her Daily Mail column about ‘catty male colleagues’ in the television industry.
Susanna wrote in an article for Thursday’s paper: ‘In my experience, there is more rivalry between male counterparts. Take ITV’s Piers Morgan and Dan Walker, his BBC Breakfast double.
Dan Walker was forced to apologise to Susanna Reid for ‘misreading her intentions’ after publicly calling her out over an article she wrote about ‘catty male colleagues’ on Thursday
‘The way they snipe at each other on Twitter makes me shudder. I would never speak about a colleague like that.
‘Women have been smashing their way through the glass ceiling for decades after all — now we’ve got there, we don’t see the point in tearing each other down.
‘Men, on the other hand, seem to get away with it because they see no shame in publicly bashing each other, then passing it off as ‘banter’ not bitchiness. Yet somehow, the myth endures that it’s women who are the catty ones. ‘
Fair enough: Dan was quick to make a public apology after realising he had made a mistake
Having seemingly skim-read the article, Dan then wrote on Twitter: ‘Interesting. With the greatest respect @susannareid100 the insults that make you ‘shudder’ only really come one way.
‘I enjoy the friendly competition with your programme. It keeps us all on our toes and normally stays within the bounds of gentle fun. See you soon.’
He also wrote: ‘I understand that columns for this newspaper need to be provocative but I humbly suggest you talk to @louiseminchin @BBCNaga @stephbreakfast @carolkirkwood @mikebreakfast @sallynugent – or anyone I work with – before suggesting I ever put colleagues down or am not supportive.’
Making his mind up: Dan went from annoyed to apologetic during his exchange with Susanna
Susanna quickly wrote back: ‘I didn’t for a moment suggest this. My reference to you was solely in relation to how you and Piers speak to each other online.’
Lots of people were in agreement with her and wrote: ‘He seems to have a problem with everything and everyone, nothing wrong with your column.’
‘@mrdanwalker Susanna made no suggestion about you not treating your female or any other colleagues without respect or putting them http://down.It was merely a suggestion how men can be just as bad as women trying to be competitive,using you and and @piersmorgan as an eg.’ [sic]
Taking Susanna’s side: People really had things to say on the matter
‘Dan, relax kiddo!’
And to his credit, Dan was quick to make a public apology.
He wrote back: ‘ I greatly respect @susannareid100 & it appears I may have misread her intentions in this article & for that I apologise – as I have done privately too.
‘Support of colleagues is a particularly sensitive issues at the moment and 1 I take seriously. I hope you all have a lovely day.’
Ouch! Susanna’s GMB co-star Piers Morgan (right) previously clashed with the Dan on Twitter over Meghan Markle
The latest war of words comes after Piers blasted BBC Breakfast’s Dan Walker, describing him as ‘the dullest, most excruciatingly virtue-signalling, tediously opinion-devoid, toe-curlingly snivelling sycophant on TV’ in a Twitter row over Meghan Markle.
The Good Morning Britain star has been an outspoken critic of the royal couple and in a tweet criticised them after they complained about their treatment by the media in an ITV documentary.
He said: ‘Imagine being two staggeringly privileged royal multi-millionaires going to Africa to make a documentary that supposedly ‘shines a light’ on poverty, violence against women/girls & racial inequality – then in fact making it all about their own terrible struggle. I mean, FFS.’
Words: In a tweet Piers criticised Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, accusing them of making their trip to Africa ‘all about their own terrible struggle’
Opinionated: Dan immediately responded in a quote tweet, and accused Mr Morgan of picking on Meghan Markle
But his post was ridiculed by Dan Walker, who said he was picking on Meghan Markle because she didn’t want to go for a second drink with Mr Morgan.
In a tweet Mr Walker said: ‘Imagine being given a TV show & a newspaper column & using them both to pick on a woman who didn’t want to go out for a second drink with you.’
But Mr Morgan quickly retorted: ‘Imagine being the dullest, most excruciatingly virtue-signalling, tediously opinion-devoid, toe-curlingly snivelling sycophant on TV?
Oh dear: The pair exchanged words back and forth which escalated the situation
‘ps For the record, I never asked Meghan for a drink, she asked me.’
The incident quickly turned into a Twitter spat, with Mr Walker then jokingly asking if Piers was around for a drink later.
He responded: ‘Sure if you can afford to fly to Beverly Hills.’
Mr Morgan also bragged that he had ‘6.2 million more followers’ than Mr Walker.
Saying things: Mr Morgan tweeted a lot about the documentary that aired in which Ms Markle admitted becoming a mother while living under an intense media spotlight has been a ‘struggle’
