Piers Morgan has stepped down as the presenter of one of the UK's biggest TV shows after a row over comments he made about Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. 

The controversial co-presenter of ITV's Good Morning Britain breakfast program said during Monday's show that he "didn't believe a word" the duchess had said to Oprah Winfrey during a clip from the high-profile interview she gave with her husband Prince Harry in which she discussed her issues with mental health and suicidal thoughts.

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That caused more than 41,000 complaints to the UK broadcast regulator Ofcom, which said it would investigate Morgan's comments. On Tuesday morning, Morgan stormed off the Good Morning Britain set after being taken to task on-air by his co-presenter Alex Beresford, who called his behavior "pathetic" and "diabolical."

An ITV spokesperson said: "Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain. ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add." Earlier in the day, ITV CEO Dame Carolyn McCall said the broadcaster was "totally committed to" positive coverage of mental health issues. 

Morgan has been a presenter of Good Morning Britain for six years. Earlier in his career he had been editor of tabloid newspapers News of the World, which he left after the Press Complaints Commission upheld a complaint about the publication of pictures showing a woman leaving an addictive disorders clinic in Surrey, and The Mirror, where he was sacked after the publication of hoaxed pictures purporting to show British Army soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners.