Piers Morgan had to back down and apologise after he read out a birthday message he got from Vinnie Jones on Monday's Good Morning Britain.
Celebrating his 55th birthday, the outspoken presenter marked the occasion by reading out messages to himself from all his celebrity pals, one of whom was the former footballer.
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Piers explained: "I've had a great card from Vinnie Jones. It says 'happy birthday you total legend'... and in smaller writing, 'I meant total bell***'."
Oh, how we laughed.
But co-presenter Charlotte Hawkins wasn't sure that it was OK to say the word on breakfast telly, saying: "Can you say that? On television?"
Trying to back himself up, Piers said: "I dunno, I just said it, didn't I? Aren't we past normal rules on TV? Seriously?"
Hmm - not sure it works like that, mate.
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Charlotte, who had presumably been told to by producers, apologised on Piers' behalf. But Piers wasn't having any of it, saying: "Oh god, are we still getting offended? Even despite everything that's happened. Haven't we learnt that we can have a laugh?"
Charlotte hit back: "No. Because this is how things start to break down."
Piers eventually backed down, apologising to 'anyone who was offended', which I imagine included a fair few parents who had young children watching and may have had to answer their questions about the word.
It was also revealed during the show that Piers' usual sidekick Susanna Reid is set to return to the studio later in the week. She's spent two weeks in self-isolation after a member of her household started to show symptoms of coronavirus.
She's appeared on the show via video link from home for the last fortnight.
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Much of the entertainment industry has been affected by the pandemic, with daytime TV being particularly hard hit.
According to bosses at the channel, Lorraine and Loose Women are no longer in production, although Lorraine Kelly has joined Good Morning Britain for an hour each morning.
Instead of the daily installment, ITV is showing old episodes of Loose Women in its usual slot.
it also announced last week that it was to halt production of Coronation Street.
A statement read: "We've been doing our best to carry on filming, whilst adhering to the Government's latest health guidelines, to ensure we've episodes of both soaps airing on ITV until at least the early summer.
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"However, the health and well-being of the production teams, actors, crew and their families is of paramount importance to us and we now feel that the time has come to stop filming."
Featured Image Credit: ITVTopics: TV and Film, UK Entertainment, Piers Morgan
