Susanna Reid: I've had enough of men telling me about feminism

Susanna Reid has said she has received hate mail from male feminists who blamed her for her Good Morning Britain co-host Piers Morgan’s criticism of the Women’s March.

“It wasn’t women who were criticising me, it was the men,” she told the Radio Times. “They accused me of enabling his anti-feminist views. The man sitting next to me was spouting off whatever he believes, which I don’t agree with, and I was trying to stand up for my views, and the right for women to march.”

She suggested men who believed they had a right to give her instructions on her politics should reconsider. “I had men telling me it was my fault he was saying this,” she said. “And I was just like, I’ve had enough of men telling me how I should be a feminist. I’ve had enough of it.”

In the interview, Reid also talked about how she considered the presenters on BBC Breakfast – which she quit for the ITV show – more lovable than Morgan. She said: “For me it’s not all about ‘we’ve got to beat them’. I’m quite nervous of conflict, I don’t like it.

“I’m not looking at beating the BBC. There are people who want its presenting style in the morning. There’s something very reassuring and very likeable about it. No one’s ever going to be offended by Dan [Walker] and Louise [Minchin]. I know them personally, and they’re blinking lovely. You couldn’t describe Piers as lovable.

“I don’t think everybody necessarily wants a double espresso shot straight into their veins in the morning. Some people want a nice cup of tea. And there is absolutely a role for both.”

Reid said she had a “constant battle for airtime” with Morgan, because “sometimes I open my mouth to ask a question and hear Piers’s voice come out”.

Reid has previously said her outspoken co-host “reduces me to tears”.

She told the magazine that when he joined the show “I was like … Arghhh! … sitting next to a hedgehog,” and she struggled with their relationship until early last year.

She said she “felt kind of responsible for what he thought” but now realised “he can say anything he likes. I don’t have to pick up the pieces.”

Reid said she did not know how much Morgan was paid. He is said to have a bigger salary. “I have no reason to be complaining about my pay. I’m well paid,” Reid said.