Piers Morgan has announced that he’s quitting ‘America’s Got Talent’ in order to concentrate on his CNN show. Morgan — who’s one of the original judges on the NBC show — Tweeted “I’m leaving America’s Got Talent after 6 wonderful years. Turned out that juggling’s harder than it looks, so I’m going to focus on CNN.” He then confirmed the news on ‘Piers Morgan Tonight,’ joking that he’s also now available to host the Oscars.
He went on, “Big thanks to NBC, Fremantle, and of course, my friend Simon Cowell, for giving me such a great opportunity. It’s been a blast.” He also congratulated his colleagues on the show — Sharon Osbourne, Howie Mandel and Nick Cannon: “You don’t have to put up with me any more!”
It’s not the first time Morgan’s quit as a judge to spend more time with his CNN show. He stepped down from the UK version, ‘Britain’s Got Talent,’in September 2010 when he was named as Larry
King’s successor. He was replaced on ‘BGT’ — albeit briefly — by ‘AGT’ judge David Hasselhoff who moved across the pond after four seasons on ‘AGT.’ His seat on the ‘AGT’ panel was filled by Mandel.
Confirming his departure on ‘Piers Morgan Tonight’ Morgan opened by addressing Eddie Murphy’s resignation yesterday as host of the 2012 Oscars. He quipped “Well, members of the academy, I’m available. In fact, my schedule just cleared a bit.”
Morgan went on to say that he’s enjoyed “every single second” of his time on ‘AGT,’ but that he’s now chosen to focus on his work at CNN in what will be a huge year leading up to the 2012 presidential election.
Although ‘Piers Morgan Tonight’ has generally grabbed better ratings than ‘Larry King Live’ was getting in its last months, the show has enjoyed a roller-coaster ride in the numbers, and it consistently comes in third place behind Sean Hannity on Fox News and Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. Can Morgan’s fulltime attention bump his show into poll position? Only time will tell.
There’s been no word yet on who’ll replace Morgan on ‘AGT.’ Hey, if things don’t work out for his new Las Vegas show, then maybe The Hoff could replace him again. Then again, Cheryl Cole hasn’t been doing much since she was dropped from ‘American Idol’ …
Will you miss Piers Morgan on ‘America’s Got Talent?’ Who do you think should replace him on the judging panel?
