Piers Morgan misses Good Morning Britain after suffering coronavirus symptoms

PIERS Morgan revealed last night he won't be appearing on Good Morning Britain after suffering a coronavirus symptom.

The 55-year-old presenter said he had been tested for Covid-19 and will not return to our screens until he gets the results back.

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Piers tweeted: "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."

One concerned follower asked: "But who will look after the country Piers???" Another added: "I hope you’re well Piers. We need you!"

ITV told The Sun Online Ben Shephard would host the show alongside Susanna Reid in his absence.

Piers, a long-time critic of the government's coronavirus strategy, was due to appear on the ITV breakfast show with Susanna this morning.

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The pair have been continuing to front the show from ITV's West London studios despite the public health crisis taking many live shows off air.

Piers and Susanna have been sitting at least two metres apart from each other on the usually-crowded Good Morning Britain desk and doing their own make-up for the show.

The daytime hit has been a crucible of confrontation in recent weeks as Piers challenged a string of government ministers over their handling of the coronavirus crisis.

The Sun Online revealed last week Piers had been the subject of almost 4,000 complaints to TV watchdog Ofcom as he grilled MPs including Helen Whately and Matt Hancock.

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The broadcasting regulator was bombarded with complaints about Piers's tough interviews, which some viewers said amounted to "bullying".

However, Piers was cleared by Ofcom in short order, with the watchdog saying in a statement that it had ruled "that broadcasters are able to hold those making political decisions to account".

It added that the star was "well known for his combative interviewing style" and insisted guests were given "adequate opportunity to put their points across".

Expressing his delight at being cleared on Good Morning Britain, Piers said: "I'm glad that freedom of speech matters. Journalists doing their jobs matter. Holding them to account matters."

Co-host Susanna was forced to miss two weeks of the programme at the start of lockdown measures being introduced in March after revealing that her son had a cough - though she continued to appear via video link.

Piers has been a regular presenter on GMB since November 2015, following a successful stint as a guest presenter.

He had left his CNN talk show, which was characterised by fiery showdowns with the US gun lobby, the previous year and returned home to London.