Charlotte Hawkins reveals the "heated debates" with Piers Morgan that you don't see on Good Morning Britain
The co-presenters like to argue things out in the ad breaks
What happens in the Good Morning Britain studio when ITV cuts to an ad break? Do the other presenters ever lose their cool with the infamously controversial Piers Morgan? Charlotte Hawkins has revealed what happens when the cameras are switched off – and apparently it can get pretty heated.
"It's quite interesting, often it's the bits in the ad breaks that are the interesting bits," Hawkins tells RadioTimes.com, explaining that she often argues with her co-presenter Morgan.
"Either we'll be having a laugh about something and a joke about something, or we'll be having a heated debate about something.
"But you can persuade him. He does admit that he's wrong, sometimes. It doesn't happen very often but you can have a debate about things and he will listen."
But what's it really like to work with Twitter provocateur Morgan, who has clashed with everyone from Lady Gaga to Ewan McGregor to JK Rowling?
"Well there's never a dull moment," says Hawkins, tactfully. "It's always lively in the mornings. But I think we're doing a show that we all love, we're all really proud of, and he certainly livens things up. No two days are the same.
"You never quite know what you're going to get, but he's a great journalist, he's a great interviewer, he knows his stuff inside out, so although he likes being controversial I think it's nice to have a bit of debate in the morning. I think it's nice to wake people up and to think, 'Oh well they're not just tuning in and passively finding out what's going on in the world.' They're actually engaging in a debate.
"Whether people agree with what he says or whether they don't, at least it sort of sparks a bit of debate, and we know from the reactions that we have that people are then getting engaged about the news and not just sitting there letting it wash over their heads but actually feeling a bit more passionate about it."
But does Morgan ever switch off?
"No. No, he's on permanently, really," Hawkins says. "He's a bit like the Duracell bunny, he's continuously on the go, and he's continuously on his phone, usually stirring up a storm on Twitter if he's not stirring up a storm on Good Morning Britain."
Good Morning Britain is on ITV Monday to Friday from 6am. Charlotte spoke to us at WWF’s London Earth Hour climate awareness event.
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