PIERS Morgan nearly missed the beginning of today’s Good Morning Britain after he forgot to shave.
The presenter was seen walking into the studio as the opening credits lifted, and laughed as he took his seat beside co-hosts Susanna Reid and Charlotte Hawkins.
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Susanna joked that she thought the recent Twitter petition to fire Piers from the show had actually resulted in his axing.
Piers has laughed off the petition for him to be sacked – and more than 29,000 people have signed a rival one to keep him on air.
The outspoken star sparked a furious debate when he claimed he identified as a penguin in an on-air rant about gender last month.
One furious viewer called from him to be sacked for his “dangerous and dehumanising” views towards transgender people and set up a Change.org petition, which currently has 13,000 signatures.
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Replying to the tweet, Piers wrote: “You can’t remove me, I’m currently identifying as a penguin so it would be animal cruelty.”
In response to the anti-Piers one a fan has set up counter-petition to keep him on air for his “common sense”, which has amassed an impressive 29,000 signatures so far.
Discussing the issue on today’s Good Morning Britain, Piers asked: “Why can’t I be a two-spirit penguin, why can’t I just decide that’s what I identity as?”
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When Susanna Reid questioned if he was identifying as a penguin, he started joking: “Yes, I’ve been a penguin for a week now.
“Now I’m a penguin, I don’t want anyone to be called he, she, they or them.
“Because you become exclusionary to me as a penguin. I want all the language around this programme to be changed now to reflect the fact I am now identifying as a penguin.”
On a more serious not, he added: “I’m not remotely transphobic.
“I do think however having 100 genders is utter nonsense. I think it’s going to be extremely dangerous to teach kids this. And I speak as a father-of-four.”
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In September Piers said he identified as “a penguin” in a rant about multiple genders and Susanna Reid’s “high salary” on Good Morning Britain.
His tirade came after it was revealed a gay penguin couple had adopted a gender neutral penguin at a London aquarium.
Piers had a bee in his bonnet about the issue after it was revealed BBC films are being used in schools to teach children there are “100 genders or more”.
He moaned, “the world has gone nuts. I’m going to say that now I am identifying as a penguin and I demand to be allowed into the penguin enclosure at the aquarium and live with the penguins.
“This is the way the world is going, when I talk about this people go, ‘You are so intolerant’ and if you dare challenge these people they want you fired, expunged, sacked.”
Trying to calm her colleague down, co-host Susanna said: “I think if you want to identify as a pan penguin that’s fine.”
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But Susanna, who was reportedly awarded a £1million pay deal for hosting GMB with Piers, quickly regretted her comment as Piers screamed back: “It’s not fine! It’s not fine to tell six year old kids that you could be any one of 100 genders.
“It’s not fine that the BBC should be doing this.”
He added: “You women moan as well. Women have it so hard don’t they? They have it so hard. But you and your massive salary, working four days a week. Come on.”
Susanna simply replied: “I do think it’s confusing for children to learn about 100 gender identities.”
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