Piers Morgan slammed by Peta after holding piglet on talk show

Watch: Piers Morgan opens show holding a pig

Animal rights group Peta has hit out at Piers Morgan for taking a pig onto his talk show.

The broadcaster held the piglet in his arms on Piers Morgan Uncensored as he urged Boris Johnson to resign, saying he thought nothing could 'save his bacon' now.

Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has now weighed in on Twitter.

Read more: Piers Morgan slams Boris Johnson's 'terrible final speech'

"A loud, bright studio is no place for a piglet," they posted.

"@TalkTV producers need to implement a no-animal policy to prevent more animals from being dragged into a stressful situation. Stick to covering the ongoing situation in #Parliament and leave intelligent pigs out of it."

They went on: "And @piersmorgan didn't you know that phrase 'greased piglet' has cruel origins, referring to a fairground game in which terrified animals were covered in grease and chased by the public – the 'winner' being whoever could catch the exhausted animal?

"Be wise and nix this lingo."

At some point, Morgan responded: “Shut up."

However, it wasn’t clear which Peta tweet he was referring to.

The organisation then shared a picture of a piglet and wrote: “Never!

“Pigs are highly intelligent, sensitive animals, so you should know better than to use them as props for your shtick! @piersmorgan.”

Morgan, 57, had opened his show – which was filmed before Boris Johnson announced that he was stepping down – by saying the politician had to go.

Holding the pig, he told viewers: "The greased piglet of politics has slipped and squirmed through almost three disastrous years of disorder and deceit."

Read more: Stephen Fry among celebs weighing in on Boris Johnson resignation news

Viewers had mixed feelings, with one calling it “comedy gold” but another saying they were “perplexed”.