Piers Morgan was born Piers Stefan O'Meara on 30 March 1965 in Newick, Sussex, England, to Vincent Eamonn O'Meara, an Irish-born dentist, originally from County Offaly, and Gabrielle Georgina Sybille (nee Oliver). He took his stepfather's surname and became known as Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan. He attended the independent school Cumnor House from the ages of seven to thirteen, and then Chailey School, a comprehensive secondary school in Chailey, near Lewes, East Sussex, followed by Priory School for sixth form. Morgan studied journalism at Harlow College.

In partnership with Matthew Freud, he gained ownership in May 2005, of Press Gazette, a media trade publication together with its "cash cow", the British Press Awards, in a deal worth PS1 million. This ownership was cited as one of the reasons many major newspapers boycotted the 2006 awards. Press Gazette entered administrative receivership toward the end of 2006, before being sold to a trade buyer.  First News was launched by Morgan on 4 May 2006. A weekly paper aimed at seven to 14-year-olds, he claimed at its launch that the paper was to be "Britain's first national newspaper for children". Morgan was editorial director at First News, responsible for bringing in celebrity involvement. He referred to the role as "editorial overlord and frontman".  Morgan was filmed falling off a Segway, breaking three ribs, in 2007. Simon Cowell and others made much of Morgan's previous comment in 2003, in a Mirror headline after former U.S. President George W. Bush fell off a Segway: "You'd have to be an idiot to fall off wouldn't you, Mr President".  In 2012, following the revelation of Jimmy Savile's sexual abuse against children, Morgan claimed to have "never met" Savile in his lifetime - although it was pointed out that in a 2009 piece by Morgan in The Mail on Sunday's Night & Day magazine claiming that "As I left, Jimmy Savile came up to me. 'Your TV shows are BRILLIANT!. he exclaimed. ... I've always loved Jimmy Savile." Later, in 2017, Morgan accused Ewan McGregor of being a "paedophile-loving hypocrite" for his past support of Roman Polanski cancelling an appearance on Good Morning Britain due to Morgan's comments opposing the Women's March on Washington.  He became the editor-at-large of the Mail Online website's US operation in September 2014 and Morgan writes several columns a week. He also writes a weekly diary for the Mail on Sunday Event magazine, having also written one for its predecessor Live.

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