Piers Morgan mocks Ross ratings

Piers Morgan has mocked Jonathan Ross's viewing figures, suggesting that he has not yet recovered from last year's scandal involving actor Andrew Sachs.

Ross was given a 12-week suspension by the BBC after he and Russell Brand left obscene messages on Sachs's answering machine during a radio programme.

Speaking at the premiere of Bansky's Coming To Dinner in London, Morgan told London Lite: "I don't think Jonathan Ross has bounced back from the Andrew Sachs scandal.

"Three million viewers, when I get over five million? If I were him I'd shoot myself."

Morgan's Life Stories attracted 4.98 million viewers when the presenter interviewed Katie Price, but figures dropped to 3.66 million for his talk with Richard Madeley a month later.

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross had 4.74 million viewers on its return in January, but has reportedly since settled to pre-ban figures of around 3.74 million.

Morgan has previously described Ross as "smug" and said that the broadcaster and his peers were "entertainers who wouldn't know a good journalistic question if it bit them on their backsides".