Piers Morgan loves America, 'Talent'
Piers Morgan
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He may be Irish by ethnicity and British by nationality, but Piers Morgan loves America, and over the course of several years as a judge on NBC's "America's Got Talent," currently airing Tuesdays and Wednesdays, he's gotten to see a lot of the nation and its people.
He's even written a book about his experiences, called "God Bless America: Misadventures of a Big Mouth Brit," released in 2009.
"When I used to come here as a young show-business reporter for one of the London papers, I had a warped view," Morgan says. "The only Americans I met were lawyers, entertainment agents, managers and celebrities, which is not a very good reflection of the real America. So, you end up thinking all Americans are like that, because they're the only ones you meet.
"The same way, if you're on holiday in Europe, and you see a bunch of football hooligans fighting, you could go, 'God, they're a bunch of savages.' "
As to what he's learned during his travels, Morgan says, "What a huge country this is, and so varied. As I've traveled around with 'America's Got Talent,' I've gone to the North, South, East, West -- everywhere very different.
"The common ground, I think, is that American people are very courteous in a way, I think, Brits have unfortunately become less courteous. There's a great spirit and energy about America. There's a real can-do mentality, where you don't have a social class structure. Your structure is based on achievement and people who have done well for themselves. You embrace that and encourage that."
New this season to "America's Got Talent" is judge Howie Mandel, who replaced David Hasselhoff in the trio that also features Morgan and his fellow "Celebrity Apprentice" alumna Sharon Osbourne.
"It's been fun, hasn't it?" Morgan says. "Howie's fantastic. He's spent his entire time trying to wind me up, as we say in the U.K., and he's successful. So he's very, very irritating, but in a very funny way. It's all humor. He makes me laugh more offstage than he even does onstage."
He's even written a book about his experiences, called "God Bless America: Misadventures of a Big Mouth Brit," released in 2009.
"When I used to come here as a young show-business reporter for one of the London papers, I had a warped view," Morgan says. "The only Americans I met were lawyers, entertainment agents, managers and celebrities, which is not a very good reflection of the real America. So, you end up thinking all Americans are like that, because they're the only ones you meet.
"The same way, if you're on holiday in Europe, and you see a bunch of football hooligans fighting, you could go, 'God, they're a bunch of savages.' "
As to what he's learned during his travels, Morgan says, "What a huge country this is, and so varied. As I've traveled around with 'America's Got Talent,' I've gone to the North, South, East, West -- everywhere very different.
"The common ground, I think, is that American people are very courteous in a way, I think, Brits have unfortunately become less courteous. There's a great spirit and energy about America. There's a real can-do mentality, where you don't have a social class structure. Your structure is based on achievement and people who have done well for themselves. You embrace that and encourage that."
New this season to "America's Got Talent" is judge Howie Mandel, who replaced David Hasselhoff in the trio that also features Morgan and his fellow "Celebrity Apprentice" alumna Sharon Osbourne.
"It's been fun, hasn't it?" Morgan says. "Howie's fantastic. He's spent his entire time trying to wind me up, as we say in the U.K., and he's successful. So he's very, very irritating, but in a very funny way. It's all humor. He makes me laugh more offstage than he even does onstage."
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