Don't You Know Who I Am? ; Piers Morgan's Diaries of Life As an Editor Caused a Sensation.Now He's Reinventing Himself As a 'Celebridee'-and Hiseye-Popping Reports From Planetshowbiz Are As Brazenly Indiscreet As Ever ...

Summary

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FOR 20 years I worked in Fleet Street as a tabloid journalist. First as a showbiz reporter, then as editor of the News of the World and Daily Mirror. It was the only professional life I knew, and I loved every second of it. But then, on May 14, 2004, at 6.10pm, I was sacked from the Mirror for publishing what the government said were hoax photos of British troops abusing Iraqi civilians - and everything changed.

Overnight, I lost my job, PA, expense account, driver and identity. I was 39, separated with three sons, and I remember waking up on May 15, laughing to myself, and thinking: 'Right - what the hell am I going to do for the rest of my life?' The obvious answer was to move into TV. I'd presented a few series for the BBC and Channel 4 during my editing years, but I knew it would be a big leap to become a fully fledged 'TV personality'.

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Extract

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Don't You Know Who I Am? ; Piers Morgan's Diaries of Life As an Editor Caused a Sensation.Now He's Reinventing Himself As a 'Celebridee'-and Hiseye-Popping Reports From Planetshowbiz Are As Brazenly Indiscreet As Ever ...

To be honest, I've always had a pretty healthy scorn for celebrities, particularly those with no discernible talent. The whole showbiz circus seems rife with shallowness, paranoia, arrogance and greed.

On the other hand, it also spells - for the ones who crack it - big money, fast cars, flash houses, hot women, the best restaurant tables, and public adoration. All of which I suspected I could cope with quite easily!

So I went for it and these diaries tell the story of what happened next.

AUGUST 5, 2004

ITV rang this morning to invite me to appear in the new series of I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! The fee is absurdly large, and for a moment a tiny part of me was tempted.

But how could I even think about doing it without losing all semblance of credibility I have left? It would be simpler to walk up and down Oxford Street with a placard round my neck saying: 'Washed- up has-been.' If I am not careful I could end up being one of those awful people who are on TV just for the sake of it.

One thing I'm absolutely sure about is that, if I'm going to be a celebrity it won't be in an Australian jungle eating repulsive bugs with Paul Burrell and Joe Pasquale. If that's what being a celebrity is, then get me out of here.

SEPTEMBER 7

AT the Man of the Year awards in London. Elton John came up.

'Hey, Piers, looking for a job?' 'What kind of job, Elton?' 'Well, the thing is, I'm short of a gardener at my Windsor p...

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