The Body Language Signs That Prove Piers Morgan's Outburst Was Coming
While some were shocked to witness talk show host Piers Morgan engage in a public outburst on live television after sparring with his Good Morning Britain co-host Alex Beresford regarding comments he had made about Oprah Winfrey's highly publicized interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, others couldn't help but point to the clear and present signs that a Morgan meltdown was imminent.
Mark Bowden, a human behavior and body language expert and panelist on The Behavior Panel, spoke exclusively with Nicki Swift about Morgan's body language in the days and minutes leading up to the on-air debacle and explained just what some of those tell-tale signs were.
Overall, Bowden described Morgan's behavior as "very out of the ordinary for him. Even when he is most normally enraged, he has more control." But what were some of those other subtle cues that a strong reaction was coming? Keep reading to find out!
Piers Morgan's behavior suggests that some of his issues might be personal
As you may recall, Piers Morgan has a dicey personal past with Meghan Markle. The story goes that Morgan and Meghan struck up a friendship via Twitter and eventually even shared a platonic dinner at a London pub — but then she ghosted him, presumably after taking up with Prince Harry. (via Daily Mail) Since then, Morgan hasn't exactly been quiet about his disdain for Meghan, whom he famously referred to as "a ruthless social climbing actress" who "landed the role of her life and is determined to milk it for all she can." YIKES.
In that same manner, body language expert Mark Bowden notes that Morgan's body language suggests his issues with Meghan are personal. "He is certainly protesting at an energy level and anxiety level that is out of his baseline for his usual staged and controlled outbursts," Bowden noted. "His voice hits powerful plosive sounds on the word 'hypocrisy,' which suggests that, as well as him maybe feeling attacked at a senior figure in the U.K. media, he personally does not like what he sees as a hypocritical use of that media," Bowden added.
Piers Morgan's body language dropped several hints that a walk-off was coming
Human behavior and body language expert Mark Bowden also referenced Piers Morgan's body language that, now in hindsight, suggested that he would ultimately storm off of live television.
"He shows an aggressive and loud finger point onto the table on the idea of 'race issue.' He is likely most aggrieved by the idea of race being used in his view during the interview as a lever to 'destroy.' His walk-out will most likely be about the differing view of this being used genuinely or disingenuously," Bowden explained. "Given that the walk-out happens during an analysis that suggests Morgan is simply 'trashing' Markle based on the breakdown of their relationship, either this is somewhat true and he is letting his feelings cloud his judgement or he feels that he is being framed as vindictive and people are not seeing his view that Meghan and Harry are being hypocrite and disingenuous," he further elaborated.
But that's not all. Bowden also makes note of what he refers to as Morgan using a "push and halt moderator gesture," in an effort to take control and quiet his co-host: "He wants to take immediate control of this story. At the same time he shows many adaptor gestures moving his pen, messing with papers and up to his face that show is agitation around the story but also the risk in immediately going in with heavy control" Bowden added.
Piers Morgan's co-hosts also signaled their discomfort
The Behavior Panel's body language expert Mark Bowden also touched on the body language cues from Piers Morgan's various co-hosts caught in the crossfire of the on-air dispute.
Bowden referenced one of Morgan's co-hosts in particular, whom he described as adapting to the tension "by moving hair, jewelry and papers in order to release the anxiety of the moment. She compresses her lips in order to withhold her opinion and grooms the inside of her mouth with her tongue to sooth the anxiety of the moment. This is very different from the behaviors in their often more choreographed or arranged arguments."
According to Bowden, this particular behavior is not typical for professionals, especially on-air professionals, engaging in civil discourse. "This is very different from the behaviors in their often more choreographed or arranged arguments."
But unlike the rest of the co-hosts, it appears that Morgan had every intention on letting his body do the talking and the walking ... right off set.