Piers Morgan Defends Gemma Collins Over Death Threats For Life Stories Appearance

Piers Morgan has leapt to Gemma Collins' defence after the star was attacked by trolls.

The 40-year-old was on the receiving end of a barrage of death threats on social media over the weekend, after it was revealed she will be a guest on Piers' in-depth interview series, Life Stories.

And Piers was left less than impressed than the amount of hate Gemma received online, discussing the trolling on today's edition of Good Morning Britain with co-host Susanna Reid.

"I talk about the trolling she's got and whether you love her or hate her - she's got two million fans on social media who love her and she's got other people who can't stand her - she's a reality TV star who plays up to her character much like Katie Price," he said.

"Whether you do [like her] or not, no one should have to put up with people on Twitter, spewing the kind of vile abuse and death threats that they have been spewing at Gemma Collins. The moment I announced it on Twitter, out it poured, people saying 'I hope you die', literally."

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Piers then called for social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to be more proactive when dealing with trolls.

"This is a malevolent thing in our culture, our society now, there's no regulation," he continued.

"If a newspaper did that or if we did that today, if we spent the next five minutes wishing people dead, we'd be taken off air. Literally, Ofcom would intervene and we'd be taken off air.

"But nothing happens on Twitter to these morons who abuse footballers and even Captain Tom [Moore] got it and then Gemma Collins - alright, a more divisive, polarising figure but she shouldn't have to have people wishing her dead on a public platform with no repercussions for people that do that.

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"What do we do about these people who are little eggheads or smiley faces these days, or accountants with five or six numbers after their names? Who's organising this because it orchestrated? Who are the bosses behind this?

"This kind of 'I want you dead' stuff has no place in public discourse."

The trolling comes after Gemma herself revealed she was struggling, after both her parents were hospitalised with coronavirus.

Gemma Collins/Instagram

Alongside the snap of her holding her frail 72-year-old dad's hand, she wrote on Twitter: "Covid is so scary lying next to my dad holding his hand right now.

"I am sharing this to create awareness of how real Covid is."

Topics: TOWIE, Good Morning Britain, Gemma Collins, Celebrity News, Piers Morgan

Kimberley Bond

Kim is a journalist at Tyla, and has previously worked at the Evening Standard, Radio Times as well as several national newspapers. A showbiz obsessive and a television fanatic, Kim is particularly interested in celebrity gossip, A-list events and the latest releases on either the big or small screen. Contact her at [email protected]

@0xKimberley