Piers Morgan says he refuses to ‘play the victim’ after losing Irish dad as a child

His father, Eamonn Vincent O’Meara, hailed from Galway and died when the British broadcaster was just one years old.

The former GB News presenter and his brother Jeremy were raised by Glynne Pughe-Morgan after their mother Gabrielle remarried following their father’s death.

He opened up about the tragedy with Vogue Williams’ husband, Spencer Matthews, in the latest episode of his podcast, Big Fish with Spencer Matthews.

Piers stressed the importance of “resilience” and strength when coping with adversity.

“I think we need to get back to a place where we instill in people a stronger streak of resilience to deal with what life throws at you,” he said.

“Life is tough… My father died when I was one, I wouldn’t say I never talk about it; I do talk about it, but I don’t go into any great detail.

“I’m certainly not going to sit here and play the victim.”

Spencer replied: “I’m certainly an advocate for talking about resilience…- It’s one of the main topics that we discuss on Big Fish... Resilience and how you work through tough times to grow and become the person you are".

Piers and Spencer, who lost his brother Michael in 1999 when he died climbing Mount Everest, agreed that grief gives people an opportunity to “make something different of your life”.

“Short of death, and we’re both experienced that in our lives, loved ones dying - there’s everything to live for,” Piers said.

“Short of death and terminal disease you’ve got a chance to make something different of your life.”

Piers argued that “whatever the setback, whatever the problem”, you can keep going strong.

“But you’ve got to have the attitude to do it,” he added.

The 57-year-old also revealed he “counts to 10” when he finds himself in challenging situations.

“Whatever it is, no matter how bad it is count to 10,” he advised.

“I’m talking about some bad stuff sometimes. You get to 10, deep breath, crack on.”