Alex Beresford broke down in tears as he and his father Noel were crowned winners of the Celebrity Race Across the World on Wednesday night.
During the episode, the weather also discussed his explosive on-air clash with Piers Morgan over his comments about Meghan Markle, revealing he was ‘struck’ from the ‘shock’.
Addressing the fallout during the final episode, Alex said he “grew a thick skin” but the incident “made him stronger” as he raced to the finish.
The presenter and his father Noel cheered with excitement as they became the first couple to reach the checkpoint in Tromsø, Norway, while Harry Judd and his mother Emma came in second place.
Alex exclaimed: ‘It feels fantastic that we are now on top of the world. This was the hardest experience I have had, but we had to travel together as men.”
Back in April 2021, former Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan slammed Alex for launching a “premeditated attack” during a row about Meghan Markle that ultimately cost Piers his job after she refused to apologise for his remarks. In dramatic scenes, Piers stormed off set after days of relentless criticism directed at Prince Harry and his wife following their interview with Oprah.
The weatherman challenged Piers on his attack towards the royal couple as he said: “I understand that you don’t like Meghan Markle. You’ve made it so clear a number of times on this programme. I understand you’ve got a personal relationship with Meghan Markle or had one and she cut you off… she’s entitled to cut you off if she wants to. Has she said anything about you since she cut you off? I don’t think she has, but yet you continue to trash her.”
Piers eventually marched off-set before returning to continue presenting the show. Later that day, he quit the ITV breakfast show. Speaking on Celebrity Race Across the World, Alex said: “I’ve never taken time away from work like this. The pace is different especially when you work in the media.
“The whole GMB Meghan Markle fallout was definitely a shock to the system to find yourself in the middle of a media storm was crazy. When you get subjected to criticism online you either have to stand up, or fold. You have to grow thick skin very quickly. It knocked me a little bit. But I definitely feel stronger having gone through it. When I look back on it now, I thank God for my family and friends because it’s those people who get you through.”
He added: “You can’t dwell on things. You have to move on mentally so you can move on physically. It’s been nice to let my hair down so to speak.” Following the dramatic GMB episode two years ago, Alex tried to clear the air and released a statement saying: “I hoped we could reach a place of understanding. It’s sad that we weren’t able to get there, but challenging his opinion was not an outrage. On this occasion, we have to agree to disagree. I didn’t want him to quit, but I did want him to listen.
“Personally, Piers has always supported my growth. He’s given me advice on several occasions and for that I am grateful. I wish him well!” However, in the following months, Piers tried to berate Alex as a “stand-in weatherman”. In April 2021 he penned a Mail on Sunday column that appeared to shed light on his take on events surrounding the row.
He accused Alex of “trying to make a name for himself” by attacking him live on air – which he was especially hurt by after claiming he’d gone “out of his way” to give the presenter career advice. He then told US TV viewers: “He’s the stand-in weather guy who does the weather occasionally. He’s not a journalist.”
When speaking on Australia’s Today, Piers clarified that he did have an ‘interesting’ conversation with Alex once he returned to the studios. However, he also then went on to repeat a dig directed at his former co-star. “Most people think I never came back, I actually did come back a few minutes later and we had an interesting conversation,” Piers explained. He added: “I don’t know if you have a deputy weather person… if you had a deputy stand-in weather person suddenly letting you have it in a personal way, I suspect you wouldn’t like it either.”
