Piers Morgan has revealed Jeremy Clarkson congratulated him in person for his new TV deal because he didn’t want a text message to be exposed in his column.
It was announced last month that the no-nonsense presenter is set to join News UK’s TV channel talkTV after his explosive exit from Good Morning Britain in March, with the new show launching in early 2022.
Having the last laugh, Piers revealed that Jeremy approached him at Rupert Murdoch’s 90th birthday party and exposed his in-person praise in his Daily Mail diary regardless.
‘”Ah, Morgan”, he bellowed, “I was going to text you to say well done on your brilliant new deal, but then I thought you’d just put that in your column, and I can’t be seen to be saying positive things about you, obviously. So, I decided to tell you in person tonight instead”,’ Piers wrote.
‘”Thank you, Clarkson”, I replied, involuntarily fingering the scar on my temple from where his fist once gouged a hole during a less amiable phase of our relationship. “Just to clarify, you’re paying me a compliment to my face so you can later claim you never said it?”
‘”Yes!” he chortled.
‘”Plausible deniability?”
‘”Exactly!” he guffawed.’
Piers continued that others were ‘happier to commit their good wishes to technological receipt record’, with Ivanka Trump reaching out via text to congratulate him.
Presenter Piers and ex-Top Gear star Jeremy used to be embroiled in a long-standing feud that even blew up into physical fights, but they have since buried the hatchet.
Piers will launch a new TV show in early 2022, to air on weeknights in the UK, US and Australia, and present a series of True Crime documentaries.
In addition to this, HarperCollins UK has signed world rights for Piers’s new title and will publish in hardback, audio and digital formats.
The channel is a new deal between News Corp and Fox News Media, with Piers also taking on a role as a columnist for The Sun and the New York Post.
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