Ben Shephard joked that Piers Morgan missed ‘Good Morning Britain’ to have "a lie-in".
The 45-year-old television presenter – who replace the 55-year-old journalist
on Monday’s (04.05.20) show after he was tested for the coronavirus – couldn’t resist teasing him about his absence.
Speaking to Dr. Hilary Jones, Ben quipped: "As you can see, I’m not Piers. Does [Piers] just want a lie-in?"
Dr. Hilary got in on the fun as well, as he added: "I think he just wants to get his car cleaned."
The ‘GMB’ presenter revealed on Sunday (03.05.20) that he had developed a "mild symptom" of the virus in the last 48 hours and "out of an abundance of caution", he has been tested for the virus and won’t be at work until he finds out whether he has contracted it or not.
Taking to Twitter, he wrote: "UPDATE: On medical advice, and out of an abundance of caution for a mild symptom that arose in past 48hrs, I’ve had a test for COVID-19 and so won’t be working on @GMB until I get the result back, which should be tomorrow. (sic)"
His usual co-star Susanna Reid added that everyone would be on their "best behaviour" in the controversial presenter’s absence.
She said: "We send our very best wishes to you Piers, and we will be on our best behaviour while you’re not here."
Before the pandemic, Piers had been fronting the ITV breakfast show from Mondays to Wednesdays, but moved to Thursdays as well to make it four days a week on air.
Piers announced the news on social media last month in response to a fan who had praised his work covering the coronavirus pandemic on the show.
He tweeted: "Thanks Tris, I’ll actually be doing 4 days a week (Mon-Thurs) on @GMB for the foreseeable future, starting tomorrow."
Ben Shephard jokes is Piers Morgan skiving off GMB
