‘I’ve been called many things in my life, but I’d gladly take ‘stand-up guy’ as my epitaph’

 THURSDAY, NOVERMBER 14

I don’t receive many awards, so I was genuinely thrilled tonight to be honoured by The Irish Post for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting and Journalism.’

Introducing me in front of 1,200 people at the Grosvenor House Hotel, host Eamonn Holmes quipped: ‘Obviously, I assumed they were going to spring a surprise and present this award to me, but in fact it’s going to a humble, quiet, good-looking, self-effacing man who has revolutionised breakfast TV. It used to be a way of easing the nation into the morning, gently waking us up. But Piers Morgan changed all that.’

I don’t receive many awards, so I was genuinely thrilled to be honoured by The Irish Post for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting and Journalism’

Riverdance superstar Michael Flatley presented me with the award and talked about our Life Stories encounter a few years ago.

‘It was the toughest interview I ever did,’ he said, ‘but also the most fair. And that says a lot about a man. Piers is a stand-up guy.’

I’ve been called many things in my life, not all of them entirely complimentary, but I’d gladly take ‘stand-up guy’ as a tombstone epitaph.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21

Dinner with legendary novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford at Harry’s Bar in Mayfair. She’s sold a staggering 90 million books, including 30 million copies of her iconic blockbuster A Woman Of Substance.

Yorkshire-born Barbara exudes wonderful old-school glamour and no-nonsense northern grit.

A trailblazing journalist (the first woman’s editor of the Yorkshire Evening Post at just 18) before becoming an author, she hates ‘woke’ political correctness, thinks Meghan Markle should stop whining, believes strong opinions are the spice of life, has a penchant for vintage champagne and loves a bit of mischief.

So naturally, we got on very well.

‘What’s the key to good novel-writing?’ I asked. ‘Lying!’ she chuckled. ‘You can’t be a good novelist if you can’t imagine things happening that have never happened. So you need to be a very good liar.’

You also need a phenomenal work ethic.

Barbara is now 86 yet still bashes away on her typewriter for several hours a day. ‘You have to keep feeding the brain,’ she said.

Barbara’s husband, Bob, sadly died this summer, ending a blissfully happy marriage that lasted for 55 years.

‘I can’t talk about him too much or I will start crying,’ she said, her eyes instantly welling up. ‘Bob was the love of my life. But I know he would want me to get on with things without him, so that’s what I intend to do.’

As for what makes a good wife, she didn’t hesitate: ‘Don’t quibble over who picks up a pair of socks. If you love a man, don’t be childish, and pick up his f****** socks!’

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24

Raymond Blanc celebrated his 70th birthday tonight with a party at his riverside Brasserie Blanc in Fulham.

The French masterchef is a charismatic whirlwind of energy and enthusiasm, famed for his ferocious perfectionism but with none of the foul-mouthed ranting so typical of many other culinary legends.

Raymond is also a true genius in the kitchen; I’ve had some of the best meals of my life thanks to his magical hands, especially at his magnificent two-Michelin-starred flagship Oxfordshire restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons.

What’s the secret to his enduring success?

‘As Mark Twain said,’ Raymond told guests in his speech, ‘age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter!’

Then he explained: ‘I started life as a restaurant cleaner, then a washer-up, then a glass washer-up, then the chef hit me with a copper saucepan and broke my jaw and I was exiled to Britain. But that chef never broke my will, or the fire in me to one day touch excellence.’

He concluded: ‘A lot of my friends have left us in their 50s and 60s, so I am happy to be 70 and still to be curious, excited by new ideas and surrounded by so many talented people. Now let’s go to the bar and do some shots!’

Salut, Raymond!

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25

A new pro-vegan movie The Game Changers claims a non-meat diet dramatically improves a man’s sexual performance.

Pamela Anderson, one of the film’s executive producers and a strident vegan herself, emailed me to urge me to watch it.

‘It will improve your sex life, Piers!’ she insisted. ‘Men don’t need meat… you’ll be eating veggie burritos for life after seeing it.’

‘I’d rather die choking on a massive T-bone steak,’ I replied, firmly.

Susanna Reid doubled down on Pamela’s recommendation.

‘You should try it…’ she said.

‘I don’t need to!’ I exclaimed, perhaps a little too hastily. ‘And even if I did it, who’s going to try me out to test the theory?’

‘ME!’ interjected Gemma Collins, our stand-in showbiz reporter for the day, cackling like a ravenously randy hyena.

Of all the many attempts to turn me vegan, this is comfortably the least persuasive.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29

It’s been no surprise to see my GMB colleague Kate Garraway being such a trouper on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

She’s always been a great laugh on and off camera, and more importantly, has always been able to laugh at herself.

After Kate announced she was marrying her husband Derek Draper, with whom I used to lock horns when he was a Labour spin doctor and I was editor of the Daily Mirror, I emailed her to say: ‘If I’d known the bar was that low, I’d have had a crack myself.’

She put that quote on the menu cards at their wedding.

 

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