Piers Morgan steps back from presenting duties after developing ‘mild’ coronavirus symptoms

Morgan has been tested for the virus and will not return to the programme until he receives his results, which are due on Monday.

ITV presenter Ben Shephard, standing in for Morgan, introduced Monday’s Good Morning Britain, saying: ‘It’s just gone six o’clock. Welcome to the programme. As you can see, I am not Piers.’

Reid added: ‘No, it’s therapeutic Monday,’ before showing viewers a tweet from Morgan.

It read: ‘On medical advice, and out of an abundance of caution for a mild symptom that arose in the past 48 hours, I’ve had a test for Covid-19 and so won’t be working on Good Morning Britain until I get the result back, which should be tomorrow.’

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Reid added: ‘That was tweeted yesterday so the results should be back today. We send our very best wishes to you, Piers, and we will be on our best behaviour while you are not here.’

Health secretary Matt Hancock was among the people replying to Morgan’s tweet that he had been tested. He tweeted: ‘Sorry to see @PiersMorgan has symptoms of coronavirus. If you test positive, I sincerely hope it’s mild. Get well soon’.

Last month, Morgan was cleared of breaching TV watchdog Ofcom’s rules after attracting more than 3,000 complaints for his ‘combative’ interviews with government ministers amid the outbreak.

Morgan defended the first interview, saying it was not as ‘uncomfortable’ as the conditions for the carers on the front line of the coronavirus crisis.