60 SECONDS: Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan was sacked as editor of the Daily Mirror for printing faked pictures of British troops abusing Iraqi soldiers. He went on to make programmes lampooning C-list celebrities before embarking on a career as one himself. His diaries, The Insider, were a huge hit and the sequel, Don't You Know Who I Am?, is out now. He's also a judge on America's Got Talent.
Will you be upset if this book isn’t such a hit as The Insider?
I don’t even contemplate the idea of failure. The Insider was No.1; this has got to be No.1 too or I’m off to Beachy Head. Every time I see Jeremy Clarkson, he taunts me that he’s had more than one No.1 book. So this has got to be No.1 too just to p*** him off.
Do you consider yourself a celebrity now?
Absolutely, double-A list. I’m cruelly unrecognised here but in America I’m a huge star.
So you won’t be making any more programmes slagging off the likes of Kate Lawler, then?
Oh no, they’re Z-listers. I reserve the right to slag off Z-listers given I’m at the top of the A-list. Becoming a celebrity hasn’t made me any more sympathetic to famous people because I realise what a bunch of whining little tossers most of them are. There’s nothing better than being a celebrity. You get endless freebies, the best tables in restaurants, upgrades from airlines and everyone treats you like you’re a god. There are a lot worse things to do than be a celebrity. I fancy doing it for the rest of my life.
Who is the worst ‘whining little tosser’?
Liz Hurley, closely followed by Hugh Grant. Kate Winslet’s pretty bad, so is Jude Law – they’ve all got £20million and won’t stop whinging. Liz Hurley’s hypocrisy is breathtaking – bleating about her privacy day in, day out for the last ten years, then selling her wedding for £2million. It’s hypocrisy on an unbelievably large scale…
What are your top interviewing tips?
Spend time with the person before you sit down, have a laugh and put them at ease. Preferably get them blind drunk, then tape them making a series of terrible indiscretions.
Becoming a celeb hasn’t made me any more sympathetic to famous people. Most of them are whining little tossers
Who was your biggest triumph?
If there’s a PR in the room, you have to engineer their disappearance so you get some juicy stuff from the interviewee. That’s what happened when I interviewed Sharon Osbourne at The Groucho Club. Her PR went to the toilet and I asked Sharon what she thought of Madonna. It was great. By the time he came back, she’d slagged off Madonna, Bryan Ferry, Mick Jagger and just about every other celebrity in the world.
Who’s been your favourite act on America’s Got Talent?
Leonid The Magnificent – a 6ft 5in Russian transvestite who claimed to be a juggler but was unbelievably bad at it. Every week, we’d try to kick him out but he’d fall on his knees and, weeping, beg us for mercy.
How do you get on with fellow judge David Hasselhoff?
There was tension at first because he thought I was ‘a tabloid w**ker’ and I thought he was a prima donna but we warmed to each other and now we’re good mates. The Hoff’s a legend, not least in his own mind. There’ll always be a bit of friction because we both think we’re the star of the show. We’ll have to see who gets the biggest trailer when the new series starts.
Have you got a hidden talent yourself?
I think all my talents are obvious – charming, good-looking, multi-skilled, able to turn my hand to most things and modest. I play the piano and sing badly when I’m drunk, too.
Do you get mobbed in America now?
Yes, I get chased down the street by adoring fans. It’s unbelievable. I like the fact England has a very healthy view of celebrities. Over here, people can’t wait to kick you in the goolies whereas in America they put you on a pedestal.
Are you doing the British version, too?
Yes, we’ve just finished the British auditions. The panel is me, Simon Cowell and Amanda Holden. The best acts included a piano-playing pig and a bloke who put hundreds of clothes pegs on his head. Those were the two best. It should be called ‘Britain’s Got Talent – And Special Needs’. America and Britain are the same in terms of talent – there’s some out there – but also share a lot of self-delusion.
Do you miss being editor of a tabloid newspaper?
tabloid newspaper? When I’m in my luxury suite in the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills, preparing to go by limo to my trailer on the Paramount movie lot to film America’s Got Talent, and my bodyguards race to get me a cup of English tea, I wonder: ‘Why aren’t I back in that dreary, drab tower block in Canary Wharf?’ So, yeah, I miss it.
Metro
