Britain's Got Talent judge signs two-year deal with ITV

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Piers Morgan: will continue as a judge on hit show Britain's Got Talent for at least two more series and front a new chatshow. Photograph: ITV

ITV has confirmed that Britain's Got Talent judge and former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan has signed an exclusive two-year deal with the broadcaster and will be fronting a new chatshow.

Morgan's golden handcuffs deal is the first signing by ITV's director of television, Peter Fincham, since he took office earlier this month.

As part of the deal - reportedly worth about £2m a year - Morgan will continue as a judge on hit show Britain's Got Talent for at least two more series and front a new chatshow.

He will also make some interview specials, plus three more documentaries from various countries along the lines of his recent programme about the UK playground of the rich, Sandbanks in Dorset, which attracted 3.1 million viewers.

It was Fincham who, as BBC1 controller at the time, snapped up Morgan in 2006 to present interview show You Can't Fire Me, I'm Famous.

The late night BBC1 show proved popular and secured the first televised grilling of Jade Goody following last year's Celebrity Big Brother race row. Morgan has also made the forthcoming BBC1 show The Dark Side of Fame.

But his appearances on Britain's Got Talent, the second series of which has been winning big audiences for ITV1 in the run-up to Saturday's final, and interviews in GQ magazine have propelled his profile even higher.

Morgan is also becoming known in the US as a judge on America's Got Talent and as the winner of the celebrity version of The Apprentice.

Morgan's chatshow is likely to hit the headlines as he has a reputation for winkling stories out of the famous.

Two months ago he unleashed a political storm when he persuaded Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg to discuss, in a GQ interview, how many women he had slept with.

Morgan's other high-profile scalps in the monthly men's magazine include persuading Boris Johnson to confess he had tried cocaine, smoked cannabis and found Cherie Blair sexually appealing.

His GQ interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger - in which the governor of California said "Marijuana's not a drug, it's a leaf" - led the news in the US.

Morgan's other television credits include three series of Channel 4 political show Morgan and Platell and a stint on ITV1's This Morning.

Prior to moving into television, Morgan famously spearheaded the Daily Mirror's anti-war drive before being sacked as editor in 2004 for refusing to apologise over fake Iraqi torture photographs.

Morgan, also a former News of the World editor, joins a small band of ITV1 stars on golden handcuffs deals. The elite group includes Vernon Kay, Simon Cowell and Ant and Dec.

Fincham said: "Piers Morgan is one of the most sought-after and popular entertainment personalities on British television and I'm delighted that we have been able to secure an exclusive partnership with him on ITV."

Morgan added: "I am delighted to be joining ITV at such an exciting time of change and evolution for the network, and look forward to making some innovative new entertainment programmes over the next few years."



Source: MediaGuardian