I thought it was funny when he was spatting with Graham Norton. I thought it was hilarious when Sam Wollaston in the Guardian pointed out that Piers is basically just trying to do an impersonation of Simon Cowell on Britain's Got Talent. But this? This news wiped the smile off my face. Morgan has branded Sir Alan Sugar "a revolting human being".

In context, though, you'll see it's not as bad as it seems. It seems Morgan and Sugar have been exchanging heated...er... text messages over their shows' respective popularity for the past few weeks. Oh yes, it's biting, it's mean, it's pinstripes at dawn... but it's all in good humour by the sounds of it.

"Britain's Got Talent has been hitting about 11.5 million while The Apprentice has about 8.5 million viewers," Morgan told the Daily Star Sunday. "I loved it the other day when Sir Alan sent me a text comparing himself to a maggot because he says his show is going to slowly catch up and overtake us in the ratings war."

"I decided to look the definition of maggot up in the dictionary and I have to say I agree with his description of himself. A maggot is described as like 'a larva often found in decaying, dying matter'. In American dictionaries they call a maggot a 'revolting human being'. I would probably agree with that also."

Sugar hits where it hurts though, and retorted to Morgan's jibes with the suggestion that he is nothing more than Simon Cowell's "monkey" on Britain's Got Talent. Piers replied: "Being called a monkey by Sir Alan is like being called fat by Sir Nicholas Soames. Sugar looks more like a monkey to me than anyone. But I take these insults in the good spirit they are intended."

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