Sharon Osbourne will join Piers Morgan on TalkTV, after leaving CBS’sThe Talk following backlash for defending the presenter.
The TV personality left her regular spot on CBS’s daytime talk show last March following a heated on-air debate about racism with her co-host Sheryl Underwood, in which Osbourne defended Morgan.
At the time, Morgan was embroiled in a high profile controversy over comments made on Good Morning Britain about Meghan Markle’s interview with Oprah Winfrey.
On Thursday (17 March), it was announced that Osbourne would be hosting her own hour-long current affairs show – also called The Talk – weeknights on Rupert Murdoch’s new channel, during which she would be joined by five “opinionated famous faces”.
In a clip shared on her Instagram, Morgan explains: “So what I’m really looking for in my co-workers at TalkTV is somebody who is, well, a bit like me. Very opinionated, fearless, funny, knows their own mind, not afraid to speak it, unpredictable, maybe a little bit dangerous. But also somebody who every time they open their gobby little mouth, it makes global news.”
Osbourne then appears next to him, saying: “Um, where do I sign Piers?”
An official statement from Osbourne also reads: “I’m excited to be working with News UK, the panel and my good friend Piers. Watch this space for some exciting and lively debates from us all.”
Osbourne exited CBS’s The Talk two weeks after her clash with Underwood, during which Osbourne’s co-host said she was giving “validation” to “racist views” in her support of Morgan.
Osbourne was accused of “gaslighting” Underwood and later issued an apology over the episode, saying she had “felt blindsided” and had let her “fear and horror of being accused of being racist take over”.
Morgan had said on GMB that he hadn’t believed Markle in her comments that she’d felt suicidal, generating more than 41,000 Ofcom complaints, with Markle among them.
He left the ITV daytime show three days after the comments were made and announced that he was joining TalkTV in September. The channel is scheduled to launch early this year.
