Good Morning Britain‘s Susanna Reid took Piers Morgan to task live on today’s show during a heated discussion on plus-size models amid the ongoing Tess Holliday debate.
Piers has been debating Tess in the press since her body positive magazine shoot for Cosmopolitan UK, and Tess responded to her critics (including Piers) quickly on Twitter, adding: “If I saw a body like mine on this magazine when I was a young girl, it would have changed my life.”
GMB arranged a further debate today, and Piers said: “My argument is that she’s [Tess Holliday] classified by every doctor as morbidly obese.
“Should we be putting models like Tess Holliday on the covers of magazines with a long interview which never once suggests this could be an unhealthy body image to promote? I say no,” he added.
On plus-size model Ashley Graham, Piers continued: “I thought she was a wonderfully positive body image. That’s not what I’m talking about.”
He also argued his view that he thinks Tess is “being used in a way that unfortunately means she can only make money if she stays at 300 pounds or larger”.
Susanna, who said she doesn’t “agree with body shaming”, eventually snapped back: “I just think for a lot of women, the battle in your head against your body can be incredibly corrosive and destructive and I don’t think that helps in trying to lose weight.
“Every woman and every man is on their own battle and their own journey – and it doesn’t help when you target one individual and tell her what she should do.”
Journalist and author Rebecca Reid also joined the debate, and she had some strong criticism for Piers, too – particularly in terms of his feeling that Tess is “being used”.
“The only person who’s ‘exploiting’ her would be herself,” Rebecca countered, later adding “Why are you so obsessed with her?”
As Piers replied that he wasn’t, Rebecca continued: “You are obsessed with her! And it’s a little bit weird!”
“Until the start of September, which was a few weeks ago, I’d never heard of her,” Piers said.
“And since the start of September, you’ve talked a lot about her!” Rebecca replied.
Good Morning Britain airs on weekdays from 6am on ITV.
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