GMB has reportedly lost a number of viewers following Piers Morgan’s controversial exit from the show.
The 55-year-old host stepped down from the ITV daytime programme last week, after clashing with Alex Beresford over Meghan Markle’s Oprah interview.
And now, its ratings have apparently dropped by 255,700 viewers.
What’s GMB ratings this week so far?
On Monday (March 15), the episode brought in an average of 895,700 viewers, with 1.3 million people tuning in at its peak.
The show marked the first Monday without Piers hosting.
Read more: Piers Morgan takes aim at former colleagues as he vows to ‘retaliate’
Instead, Susanna Reid appeared alongside Ben Shephard.
Meanwhile, last week, over 1.9 million viewers tuned in to watch Piers at its peak. The show averaged out at 1,151,400 million.
Despite the reports, the ITV show is still proving extremely popular.
As Ben replaced Piers, the programme marked its third biggest Monday audience from 2021 so far.
ED! has contacted ITV for comment.
Following his departure, Piers took a swipe at rivals BBC Breakfast over the impressive figures.
Viewing figures for Piers’ final appearance on GMB revealed that it beat BBC Breakfast with an audience share of 35.3%.
However, BBC Breakfast had 33.4%.
Sharing the news on social media, he wrote: “I had one goal when I joined GMB – beat BBC Breakfast in the ratings. On my last day, we did it.
“That was down to the hard work and dedication of the whole team.
“They don’t all agree with me, some don’t even like me, but we were a team… and we won.”
Who is replacing Piers Morgan?
Ben jumped into Piers’ seat the morning after his departure, and he has proved to be popular with viewers.
Stand-in host Adil Ray‘s name is also in the frame, and it’s been reported that ITV is eyeing up Victoria Derbyshire to fill the coveted seat next to Susanna Reid.
Read more: Piers Morgan ‘to continue working with ITV’
The Sun claims: “ITV producers have been looking for the right platform for Victoria for a while.
“They think she is a real talent and one of the few opinionated TV journalists who could be a real powerhouse addition to GMB.”
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