Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic
America may have talent, but it will no longer have Piers Morgan on its hit reality show. Morgan, the only judge remaining from the original America's Got Talent season, announced Wednesday on CNN that he's leaving the NBC reality competition. Watch his announcement here:
Morgan can thank Eddie Murphy and Brett Ratner for his witty lead in to the breaking the news: "Well, members of the Academy, I'm available!" Morgan joked, referring to Murphy, who pulled out as the host of the 2012 Academy Awards show after director Ratner had to resign as its producer.
"My schedule just cleared a bit," Morgan continued, "because I can exclusively reveal that I'm leaving America's Got Talent... I've loved every single second but discovered that juggling, to my surprise, really is a bit more difficult than I thought."
The busy Englishman, who has been judging contenders for six years, explained that he's stepping back to concentrate on his CNN show, Piers Morgan Tonight.
"I'm going to focus on what's going to be a huge year here at CNN, with the upcoming election. I'd like to thank NBC, Fremantle and my great friend Simon Cowell for giving me such a wonderful opportunity on that amazing show. And I want to congratulate Sharon (Osbourne), Howie (Mandel) and Nick (Cannon), who will doubtless be very relieved to learn they no longer have to work with me."
In response, cohost Howie Mandel twittered: "I guess I'm more annoying than I thought. I'll miss you @piersmorgan."
Cheers, mate!
