Piers Morgan

Comedian and TV star Paul O’Grady was set to be the host of Britain’s Got Talent and even have the show named after him until things got very heated behind the scenes

Former Britain’s Got Talent judge Piers Morgan has revealed Paul O’Grady was meant to be the host for the hit talent show, until things went very wrong. The controversial broadcaster was part of the original line up on Simon Cowell’s talent show back in 2007.

Music mogul Simon was inspired by former talent shows including Opportunity Knocks and New Faces as he wanted to create a competition for people of any age and location to enter. He wanted a range of personalities on the judging panel with him, and first settled on Piers and Fern Britton.

Simon set his sights on comedian Paul as host and even planned to name the show, Paul O’Grady’s Got Talent. He met with Piers for lunch in Kensington, London to get him on board.

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Piers admitted: “I owe him a lot actually because I would not have had any career in America without him. He has been great for me. He said ‘I am going to bring back an old all-round talent show like New Faces, Opportunity Knocks and The Gong Show in America. It can be any talent’.”

The broadcaster explained: “We did a pilot at ITV. Paul O’Grady was the host. The judging panel was Simon Cowell, me, and Fern Britton. It was about to be greenlit as a prime-time ITV show.”

Piers said he was ready “to get back in the game” but things quickly took a turn and the production was halted. He said: “Then Paul O’Grady had a massive falling out with ITV, told them to shove it and went to Channel 4.”

At the time, the Paul O’Grady Show moved over to Channel 4 and ITV stopped him being able to rent their studios. Paul decided to refuse all work with the network following the row.

He explained years later: “I did the pilot for Britain’s Got Talent – which was originally going to be called Paul O’Grady’s Got Talent. But I told the producers they were having a joke if they thought I would front a show with that title.

“The original panel of judges was going to be Simon Cowell, Fern Britton and Piers Morgan. I was the host. Then when I had the row with ITV I was banned from the studios.

“I remember I rang Simon and told him he had a huge hit on his hands, but there was no way I could do it. I said, if I am banned I have to be banned from everything. I can’t be a hypocrite and come in and do this. I had to bow out.”

Paul added: “I don’t regret what I did. Not in the slightest. Good luck to them.” He did also manage to patch things up with ITV and returned years later with Paul O’Grady Live!.

Paul’s decision to boycott ITV meant Britain’s Got Talent was hit with a huge delay and Simon decided to kick off with America’s Got Talent first. Simon enlisted Piers again as he wanted “someone who is judgmental, opinionated, obnoxious and arrogant” as him.

Britain’s Got Talent hit screens a year later with Simon, Piers and Amanda Holden as judges and Ant and Dec as hosts. Piers said on The Overlap and Betfair’s Stick to Cricket show: “He had literally come up with the entire concept of Got Talent on a napkin at the Ivy in Kensington.

“Bring back a talent show. Have a tough mean judge, a mother hen figure, a funny person and any talent goes. Now the Got Talent franchise is in more than 60 countries around the world. It changed my life.”

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MANY of us have been guilty of sneaking a glance at something we shouldn’t – but these unfortunate celebs were caught in the act.

This week Judge Rob Rinder was snapped copping an eyeful of Liz Hurley‘s cleavage at the National Television Awards.

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The TV presenter, 47, posed beside the actress, 60 – both of whom star in Channel 4’s new reality show The Inheritance – on the red carpet at the glitzy event.

Later on during the ceremony Rob – who was married to Seth Cumming from 2013 to 2018 – cracked a joke about her daringly low-cut dress.

While the duo presented the gong for Best Reality Competition, he couldn’t resist another look before telling Liz: “How marvellous it is that you are defying Newton’s Law of Physics. Well done to you!”

The Good Morning Britain star’s cheeky comment went down well, with the audience erupting into laughter.

Here we reveal the other brazen celebs who only had their own breast intentions at heart…

Morning peak

Outspoken Piers Morgan was caught sneaking a peek down Susanna Reid‘s top while presenting GMB back in 2016.

The presenter was admiring her purple dress, which had a cheeky slit down the front.

Piers quickly realised he’d put his foot in it, admitting: “I was just admiring my co-presenter.

“The camera caught me at a difficult moment… I looked over and looked down and before I knew it…”

He wasn’t the only person to appreciate Susanna’s low cut dress that day, with many viewers praising how she looked.

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Billionaire blunder

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Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, 40, landed himself in hot water when he was caught staring at fellow tech billionaire Jeff Bezos‘s fiancée’s chest.

The married social media magnate was snapped ogling Lauren Sanchez at President Trump’s inauguration in January this year – while her partner, 61, was stood right next to her.

Lauren, 55, hit headlines for her racy outfit at the swearing in, and it was later revealed her lingerie-style top was a $1,800 Alexander McQueen satin-trimmed bustier.

Mark – who wed Priscilla Chan, 40, in 2012 – raised more eyebrows less than 24 hours later when he ‘liked’ a photo of Lauren’s cleavage on her Instagram.

Fans were quick to mock the Meta founder, with one asking: “Will Zuck lose his Amazon Prime membership?”

Wedding leer

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While making a guest appearance on Good Morning Britain for the ‘wedding’ of Love Island stars Jessica Shears, 32, and Dom Lever, 34, telly host Jeremy Kyle was caught gawping at the bride’s breasts.

Given Jess was wearing a bikini for the live ceremony in 2018, her ample assets were on full display.

Viewers were quick to call him out, with one tweeting: “Jezza kopping a quick gorp at Jess’s t**s (sic).”

Another wrote: “Jeremy Kyle was staring at Jess’s boobs and it was disturbing.”

Jeremy, 60, had recently proposed to Vicky Burton, the former nanny of his kids, who he married in 2021.

Phwoar-lando

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Before Orlando Bloom, 48, and Katy Perry, 40, went their separate ways, the Lord of the Rings actor was caught with a wandering eye.

In September last year he was papped admiring Kim Kardashian‘s ample behind despite having his hand on fiancée Katy’s waist.

Fans were quick to criticise Orlando’s barely concealed stare at Kim, with one joking: “Maybe this is why they have been engaged for so long.”

Katy and Orlando went their separate ways in July this year, shortly after he was spotted having a cosy reunion with Kim at Jeff Bezos’ wedding.

Amanda’s Got Talent

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Simon Cowell, 65, clearly thought his Britain’s Got Talent co-host had talent(s) when he accompanied her to the British Academy Television Awards in 2010.

Amanda Holden, 54, had opted for a strapless gown, and Simon – who was at the time engaged to make-up artist Mezhgan Hussainy, 52 – couldn’t resist a glance at her bust.

The music mogul’s unfortunate moment was caught on camera – from multiple angles.

Though Amanda’s silver and white gown was fairly tame compared to the daring outfits she worn in more recent years.

Ola there!

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Dancer James Jordan, 47, was caught having a good look at Lisa Snowden‘s bosom – in a snap captured by his own wife.

The former Strictly Come Dancing professional was cosying up to the telly presenter, 53, at a bash in 2017.

Ola, 42, shared the photo of James gawping at Lisa’s chest on her Instagram story, captioned: “It’s my lovely Lisa Snowdon,” alongside a winking face.

The trio met after Lisa appeared on Strictly back in 2008 when she was partnered with Brendan Cole, 49.

Lady love

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It’s not just the famous blokes who appreciate the female form – in these amusing shots TV host Ellen DeGeneres, 67, was caught having a good inspection of Katy Perry’s boobs.

The women were at the Grammy Awards in 2013 when the talk show host was pictured ogling the I Kissed A Girl singer.

Standing arm in arm with her wife Portia de Rossi, 52, Ellen wasn’t shy about sharing her admiration.

Portia appeared to be find her spouse’s antics hilarious, while Ellen tweeted the photo with a birthday message for Katy captioned: “Happy birthday, @KatyPerry! It’s time to bring out the big balloons!”

It didn’t go down too well with fans, with some accusing Ellen of double standards, pointing out if it was a man who made the joke it would be seen as sexist.

Tucci close for comfort

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Anne Hathaway and Stanley Tucci became close while co-starring in The Devil Wears Prada back in 2006.

During filming Anne revealed that her co-star – then married to his now ex-wife Kate Tucci – had become obsessed with her breasts, and he was even spotted having a sly look down her plunging black dress while promoting the film.

Anne joked that Stanley kept elbowing her in the boobs, leading him to reportedly joke that she should stop “flinging those melons around like it’s harvest season”.

The joke doesn’t seem to have bothered either party as they’ve remained bosom buddies and are currently filming The Devil Wears Prada 2.

Bonnie Blue insists she is happy but there is a cost to her fame and she does not live a normal life

Bonnie Blue has made millions from porn, inviting multiple fans to have sex with her and posting film of what some people would call orgies, but she calls “events”, online.

Her biggest event was in January, when she had sex with 1,057 men in 12 hours, the inspiration for the title of a new Channel 4 documentary, 1,000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story.

At a screening of the documentary, Bonnie insisted she was “very happy” with her life. But her notoriety, and her boasts of sex with married men, who, she says, should not feel guilty about cheating on their wives, come at a price.

In the film, Bonnie, a 26-year-old former NHS recruitment worker from Derbyshire, whose real name is Tia Billinger, says: “The last time I went out by myself was probably about six months ago. Now it is not that safe.

“I get 100s of death threats a day, so it is not that safe when I walk around.

“I say, ‘It is going to happen at some point, someone will come and give me stick’ and fair play to her, at least they are getting up off their sofa. My worst one is acid, if someone did acid, and I could see some spiteful girl doing that.”

READ MORE: ‘I saw real Bonnie Blue behind closed doors – there’s one dark truth people don’t see’

Bonnie has split from her husband and her closest friends seem to be Josh, who posts her videos, and a stylist. She says: “My sort of circles got smaller, but my team are also my best friends.”

Director Victoria Silver followed Bonnie for six months, gathering footage of her having sex, and was at her January marathon for a couple of hours.

At the documentary screening, Bonnie expressed surprise at the amount of explicit footage used. Asked if she was expecting complaints, Victoria said: “If I was making a film about a musician or some kind of other performer their work would be in there. I think it is important to see what she does.”

And Bonnie is clearly proud of her work. Of her sex marathon, she says: “I love the fact that I was able to experience that day with over 1,000 subscribers, fans, people that spent time out of the day to come meet me.

“But, yeah, I also need money to be able to take time out of my days to be able to do that, to hold these events. These events aren’t cheap by the time you pay for staff, security, the venue.”

But she says she has earned more than £1million in some months, and the documentary shows the increasingly extreme lengths she will go to for clicks and views.

In one stunt, she creates a school classroom for a sex show, with other, younger, contributors taking part after being sent invites.

The director’s voiceover says they are not paid but “appearing in their socials with Bonnie is payment enough”.

At the shoot in Birmingham, one girl called Codie says: “She got quite big quite fast, so it will be nice to see how she does things. No, I am not being paid today, it’d just be that I get tagged and then hopefully get followers and subs from that and then roll on to my page.”

She admits she does not normally do anything “adventurous” on her OnlyFans page and that this is the first time she has taken part in filmed group sex. She adds that making sex films is better than having to do an office job.

Another contributor, Leah, says: “I got a DM to see if I wanted to take part. As soon as I heard Bonnie Blue’s name I was intrigued because she’s everywhere at the minute.”

Leah says this is the first time she has been with other people in a room having sex and she is “definitely” nervous.

But Bonnie does not seem bothered or concerned by the fact the girls look a bit shy and intimidated. Bonnie says: “The fact they are so nervous works in my favour, because their reactions will be more realistic. Or if they feel intimidated, obviously, I want them to say, but sometimes sex is intimidating, so it’s going to be good.”

Another scene shows Bonnie at home with mum Sarah, who speaks with pride about how her daughter was a great dancer as a child.

She also seems proud of her career as a porn star. She says: “Would it be something that I chose for her to do, no. I was really, really shocked, but now would I want her to do anything else? No, not at all. It’s her choice.”

Sarah and other relatives have given up their jobs to be on Bonnie’s payroll.

Sarah says: “People I know always liked us both, but think it’s OK to make nasty comments.

“Most of the time I just laugh. I’m like, ‘If you could earn a million pounds in a month, your morals would soon change, and you’d get your bits out’. I don’t care what people say.”

Bonnie says: “My family started to put up with hate, I get that, but I also get the life I live and the money. So it’s like I also want them to receive some of the rewards.”

The documentary ends as Bonnie is about to head to Romania to meet influencer Andrew Tate, who is facing rape and human trafficking charges, which he denies, and is a self proclaimed misogynist. Bonnie says: “He’s probably just as controversial as I am. Whether people love him or hate him, he’s a marketing genius.”

Director Victoria asks her: “You talk about female empowerment, but how do you square that with aligning yourself with the most misogynistic male on the internet?”

Bonnie says: “Piers Morgan interviews serial killers all the time. It’s not messed up his brand. He [Tate] has been labelled multiple things by the media, and so have I. We’re probably the two most misunderstood people out there at the moment.”

Channel 4 defended the documentary, telling the Mirror: “The explicit content is editorially justified and provides essential context.”

And at the screening, commissioning editor Tim Hancock said: “We are very proud to do films like this.”

* 1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story, Channel 4, Tuesday, 10pm.