Richard Bacon would be BANKRUPT if his life-threatening lung infection had ...

Ex-Blue Peter and The Big Breakfast presenter Richard Bacon will fill in for Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain for the rest of this week - and he's thrilled at the prospect.

'I’m really excited to be Piers Morgan’s understudy!' he told ITV in a pre-interview on Wednesday. 'I know Piers and Susanna [Reid] quite well. We hang around a lot in LA. 

'I’ve hosted a US breakfast show before but not since The Big Breakfast have I hosted a UK breakfast show. So I’m really excited.'

The 43-year-old - who has faced scrutiny over the course of his career after a drug scandal during his Blue Peter days got him the sack - insisted that TV presenters' job is not to be liked.

'I’ve never gone out to be liked by everybody. I’m really comfortable with the fact that some people will like me and some won’t,' he said. 'I think if every single person liked you as a presenter, you are definitely doing something wrong.

'I’m going to enjoy expressing opinions [on GMB]. I do so regularly on social media, in a way I couldn’t do when I worked on BBC Radio 5 every day. I like having my mind changed and listening to other people too.

'There is definitely something fun about the looser plan of Good Morning Britain, which means that you can just be a little bit more outspoken.'

Richard appeared on GMB as a guest last September, where he revealed how doctors expected him to die from a lung infection last summer.

He was rushed to hospital after a virus 'exploded' in his lungs during a flight from the United States, going on to spend 12 days in intensive care and nine in an induced coma, as medics battled to save his life from the mystery infection. 

Reflecting on September's interview, and the health

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