Moment GMB stars Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley clash on live TV in row over the BBC and Tim Davie

Good Morning Britain presenters Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley had a bitter row live on air after BBC director-general Tim Davie was forced to resign.

Mr Davie and BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness sensationally resigned on Sunday after an internal report accused him of bias and censorship, amid an impartiality row that has rocked the national broadcaster.

The chief admitted “mistakes” were made following a bombshell report by Michael Prescott, a former adviser to the company’s editorial watchdog, who accused the BBC of altering a speech by US President Donald Trump and censoring discussion of transgender issues and said its coverage of Gaza was biased.

And former staffer Ms Reid, who was the star of BBC Breakfast before making a shock move to ITV to launch Good Morning Britain (GMB) in 2014, rushed to Mr Davie’s defense on Monday’s edition of the breakfast programme.

The presenter pointed to his co-host Mr Madeley and said: ‘My defense is not for the documentary. My defense belongs to the BBC.

‘21,000 people work at the BBC. It is simply unrealistic to think that the chief executive should be responsible for the output of these 21,000 people.

‘I understand why the news chief resigned because it was on his watch and I can completely understand that he carried the box.

‘But I find it extraordinary that the chief executive would review a misleading edit in Panorama.’

Mr Davie (Photo in February 2024) resigned amid impartiality row after an internal report rocking the national broadcaster accused him of bias and censorship

Deborah Turness (pictured in January 2023), chief executive of BBC News, also resigned

Mr Madeley interjected: ‘This is more than a misleading regulation. ‘This is a woeful misrepresentation of the President of the United States in the BBC’s flagship documentary.’

At this point Ms Reid tried to interrupt her colleague and although Mr Madeley said ‘excuse me’ he continued: ‘You know he was dismissed for inciting these riots.’

Mr Madeley replied: ‘Yes, and in fact he was cleared. We may not like this…’

After Ms Reid pointed out that 57 senators voted to impeach her while 43 voted against, Mr Madeley raised his open palm, then pointed his finger at his host and said: ‘But that doesn’t give you the right to distort the truth…’

“I totally agree,” interrupted Mrs. Reid. ‘However…’

The heated confrontation continued and Mr Madeley said: ‘Can I ask you a question about Head Office? [director general] resignation? He should definitely resign since he made no comment in the face of these criticisms last week.

“If only it were an arrangement like the one you made this morning,” he added, tapping the table with his hand. ‘He should have succeeded. But he remained completely silent.’

Ms Reid, the former BBC presenter, pointed again at Mr Madeley and replied: ‘Can I say a bit? ‘You misrepresented what I said.’

Ms Reid was photographed with Bill Turnbull during her days presenting BBC Breakfast. He defended Mr Davie on Monday’s GMB show and said he should not resign

After Ms Reid noted that 57 senators voted to impeach Donald Trump while 43 voted against, Mr Madeley raised his open palm, then pointed his finger at his host and said: ‘But that doesn’t give you the right to distort the truth…’

Finally, Ms. Reid took off her glasses, smiled into the camera, and looked to end the testy argument.

“Go ahead, I didn’t edit it though,” his colleague laughed. ‘Do you think the Chairman of ITV should resign now because you said I defended regulation when I didn’t?’

Looking slightly surprised, Mr Madeley said: ‘Okay then, I’ll change it, you’ve “explained” the arrangement.’

Ms Reid then took off her glasses, smiled towards the camera and looked to end the fierce argument.

The presenter moved directly from BBC Breakfast to rival ITV show when he left the company 11 years ago.

This was revealed following a survey by the Radio Times which ranked him as the most popular breakfast presenter of all time and showed he had a successful run on Strictly Come Dancing.

According to the Royal Television Society, BBC Breakfast currently reaches around one million viewers compared to GMB’s 700,000; This closes the gap from when Ms Reid joined, when GMB attracted less than half the audience of its rival.

It comes after Mr Trump described Mr Davie and BBC journalists as ‘very dishonest’ as he launched a fresh attack on the scandal-hit company.

The president’s speech on Jan. 6, 2021, was edited in a Panorama documentary to appear as if he told supporters he would march with them to the U.S. Capitol to “fight like hell.”

Mr Trump last night condemned ‘corrupt’ BBC for tearing down director-general Tim Davie

Mr Trump calls Mr Davie and BBC journalists ‘very dishonest’ as he launches new attack on scandal-hit company

He described the broadcaster as ‘a terrible thing for democracy’ and said ‘corrupt journalists’ had been exposed.

In a post on Truth Social on Sunday night, he wrote: ‘The TOP people at the BBC are all resigning/fired, including TIM DAVIE and THE BOSS, because they were caught ‘altering’ my very good (EXCELLENT!) speech on 6 January.

‘These are very dishonorable people who are trying to weigh in on the scales of the Presidential election. After all, they come from a Foreign Land that many consider our Number One Ally. ‘What a terrible thing for democracy!’

He also shared a Daily Mail column from Boris Johnson in which the former Prime Minister promised not to pay the license fee unless Mr Davie broke his silence about the incident or resigned.

‘The BBC is dying because of anti-Trump Fake News,’ said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

It follows comments last week in which the company said it was ‘100 per cent fake news that is not worth the time of the UK’s big people on their television screens’.

And last night he published a screenshot of his comments alongside the broadcaster’s announcement of Mr Davie’s resignation. “Shot” and “Follower” he captioned the tweet.

Mr Davie admitted ‘mistakes’ had been made, adding: ‘I must take ultimate responsibility.’

Ms. Turness said ‘it’s up to me’ and asked ‘Trump: Second Chance?’ He admitted that the images of the US President were edited in the documentary. It had caused ‘damage’ to the BBC.

But he rejected allegations that the broadcaster was institutionally biased.

While both executives resigned rather than be sacked, BBC chief Samir Shah described it as a ‘sad day’.

A BBC insider told the Daily Mail that Mr Davie was “furious” at political leaders who “jumped on the report to bring him down”.

Mr Davie’s resignation brings to an end a 20-year career at the BBC, where he rose to the position of director of marketing, communications and audiences.

Since taking the top job in 2020, the company has faced multiple crises, including the prosecution of newsreader Huw Edwards for possessing indecent images of children, the sacking of MasterChef presenters Gregg Wallace and John Torode, and Bob Vylan’s broadcast performance at Glastonbury with the lead singer chanting ‘death to the IDF’.

But it was Mr Prescott’s 19-page report that brought down the chief executive.

Mr Davie said he wanted to hand over the role to a new director general ahead of Royal Charter renewal negotiations with the Government, which will decide on the broadcaster’s future funding model.