Alex Beresford reacts after Piers Morgan’s ‘GMB’ walk-off

Watch: Piers Morgan walks off Good Morning Britain following heated discussion with Alex Beresford over Harry and Meghan interview

Alex Beresford has said he wished he “had the privilege to sit on the fence” as he reacted to Piers Morgan storming off the Good Morning Britain set.

Morgan walked away from the cameras on Tuesday during a discussion about Meghan Markle where Beresford had called out his colleague for “trashing” the Duchess.

Markle and Prince Harry’s Oprah Winfrey interview aired in the UK on Monday night, which included the pair’s claims that a member of the royal family had made a racist remark about Archie’s skin colour.

Read more: Thomas Markle criticises daughter Meghan and son-in-law Harry

On Tuesday afternoon, Beresford shared to Twitter: “I wish I had the privilege to sit on the fence. In order for me to do that I would have to strip myself of my identity and that’s not something I can do.

Alex Beresford has said he wished he “had the privilege to sit on the fence”. (Getty)

“It’s not any of our places to pick apart claims of racism in order to make us to feel more comfortable.”

In the couple’s interview they had also criticised the tabloid press, saying it created a “toxic environment”.

On GMB, Morgan reflected on the death of Princess Diana and said Harry “couldn’t let it go” while his brother William had “come to terms with the media”.

Beresford defended Markle, noting that she and the prince had “had an overwhelming amount of negative press” before referencing Morgan’s claims that he had a friendship with Markle before she began dating Harry.

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Watch: The key revelations from Meghan and Harry’s Oprah interview

He went on: “I understand that you don’t like Meghan Markle. You’ve made it so clear a number of times on this programme, and I understand that you had a personal relationship with Meghan Markle and she cut you off.

“Has she said anything about you after she cut you off? She’s entitled to cut you off if she wants to. And yet you continue to trash her.”

Read more: Pressure builds on palace to respond to racism claims

“OK, I’m done with this,” Morgan interjected as he stood up and walked away.

Beresford dubbed Morgan’s reaction as “pathetic” and that it was “diabolical behaviour”. Morgan eventually returned to resume discussion.

The weatherman went on to say: “I have the luxury of knowing you on and off screen and we’ve had conversations, I know where you stand on things… I’ve got a great amount of respect for you, Piers.”

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry with Oprah Winfrey. (Harpo Productions/ Photographer Joe Pugliese)

He added that the situation was personal to him as he shared: “When you’re mixed race what you find in my personal experience… is that when you are a lighter shade of black people gain confidence and feel that they can say things to you that they wouldn’t say to a black person.”

It comes as Monday also saw Morgan state that he did not believe that Markle had experienced suicidal thoughts at the height of her struggles as a working royal.

ITV chief executive Carolyn McCall has said senior executive at the broadcaster would be holding talks with the former newspaper editor following the comments.

Mental health charity Mind had also expressed “disappointment” at his comments.

Addressing his remarks on Tuesday, Morgan said: “When we talked about this yesterday, I said as an all-encompassing thing I don’t believe what Meghan Markle is saying generally in this interview, and I still have serious concerns about the veracity of a lot of what she said.

Read more: Alex Beresford praised for confronting Piers Morgan

“But let me just state on the record my position about mental illness and on suicide. These are clearly extremely serious things that should be taken extremely seriously, and if someone is feeling that way they should get the treatment and help they need every time.”

With additional reporting by PA.

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