It’s not news to anyone that Dan Walker, 43, and Piers Morgan, 54, have an intense rivalry, as both presenters chair morning breakfast shows BBC Breakfast and Good Morning Britain. But it seems one host takes a more bitter stance than the other in the battle for breakfast supremacy.

In the noise that circulates around him, I don’t care what he says about me, only when he pokes fun at Breakfast, or has a pop at Carol Kirkwood, or at our viewers

Dan Walker

In an interview with Radio Times, Dan opened up about the root of their feuds, of which stem into viral beatdowns, with the mild-mannered BBC presenter berated by the outspoken fury that is Piers.

“He hates that we still get double the audience every morning, despite all the money they’ve spent on GMB,” Dan admitted.

It’s true, BBC Breakfast hold the record when it comes to breakfast news programs, with Dan sharing 2019 latest figures that showed on average the BBC show pulls in 1.44million viewers.

GMB on the other hand pulled in 726,000.

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But that’s not to say one is better than the other – they each have their own unique styles.

Alas, the difference in viewing figures cause Piers to regular wage a war against Dan, who says he’s “just trying to get a reaction”.

The BBC star said he “fights back” because he’s the only one willing to challenge him.

“I fight back because nobody else does,” he said.

“In the noise that circulates around him, I don’t care what he says about me, only when he pokes fun at Breakfast, or has a pop at Carol Kirkwood, or at our viewers.

“In all that noise, you can forget we are by some distance the number one breakfast show in the UK.

Piers took aim at Carol back in 2017, after she scooped up a Television and Radio Industries Club award.

Describing it as going to “somebody from a rival show that nobody watches”, the ITV presenter joked on GMB the following morning: “The winner was someone that is universally reviled around the world isn’t she?”

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With Susanna Reid disagreeing, he continued: “No, we love you really Carol,” Piers continued. “But we love you more Laura [Tobin -GMB weather presenter] – you’ve won the popular vote, you are the Hilary Clinton of the whole operation.”

It wasn’t before dived in to stick up for his colleague, saying: “Oi @piersmorgan… I don’t mind you lying about your viewing figures but lay off @carolkirkwood. She is queen. You are 1 of her subjects.”

But there are occasions where the Football Focus presenters admits he probably should leave him to it.

“Maybe I should on occasions just let it lie,” he confessed of Piers’ tendency to get nasty.

“I’d like to think he doesn’t really mean those things. I really don’t think it’s genuine animosity. He talks about us an awful lot on GMB, whereas I don’t think we’ve ever mentioned him on Breakfast.

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Away from the bizarre and heated Twitter spats, the pair have hung out together on occasion, where they “have a laugh” and Dan was invited to his 50th birthday.

“I like Piers. He’s a very good broadcaster and they do a great job on GMB. Calling me a ‘snivelling sycophant’… That’s the way he operates.”

But he still believes there is a good guy on the inside.

“Outside all the froth, somewhere inside there is probably a decent bloke.”

BBC Breakfast continues this morning at 6am on BBC One.

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