Piers Morgan to sign megabucks US TV deal

Piers Morgan to sign megabucks US TV deal (Image credit: Ken McKay)

Piers Morgan is due to sign a £10 million US TV deal within days - making him one of America's richest TV stars. The Britain's Got Talent judge will take over from veteran interviewer Larry King as CNN's top presenter, according to The Sun. It will be the first time a British name has been given a prime-time chat show on American TV. Former tabloid editor Piers has vowed to stay on as a judge on America's Got Talent on US channel NBC - but the three-year deal means that he'll be too busy to judge Britain's Got Talent. An insider said: "No matter how much Piers wants to stay on BGT, he just can't do it all, simple as that." Our source added: "The new series of America's Got Talent opened to record ratings last week, so NBC are insisting he stay with that show." Piers's Britain's Got Talent exit follows Simon Cowell's decision to miss out on the auditions next year.

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.