Inside Gary Lineker and Piers Morgan’s ‘feud’ – online spats to ‘feisty’ dinners

and are longtime friends, however, their regular online disagreements could convince someone otherwise.

Despite often feuding on social media, the outspoken broadcaster, 59, and presenter, who turns 64 today (November 30), clearly enjoy each other’s company.

But their constant social media clashes often leaves fans wondering where they stand with each other.

Over the last few years, Piers has called out the presenter over his salary, ratings and even his ears.

Initially, the pair butted heads over Gary’s antics on the pitch and who the greatest football player in the world is. They even have nicknames for each other, with Piers calling Gary “jugs” due to his ears and Gary branding Piers “tubbs”.

Their online “feud” dates back as far as August 2019 when they had a bust-up over Gary calling out the government’s decision to extend the suspension of Parliament.

Piers hit back: “Says the man who has howled for 3yrs that we should ignore the result of a democratic vote…”

To which Gary said: “We could though look at the crooked, lying nature of how it was sold to us back then by the elite now dictating (literally) and decide as a democratic country if that’s still what we want.”

Two years later, the former host snapped at Gary after he branded .

Referencing and ‘s shocking exit from the royal family, the ex-professional footballer wrote: “Families fall out. It’s hard enough without the whole world judging and haranguing you.

“Yes, the Royal Family is a weird concept. A strange job that brings absurd entitlement, but they’re still human beings with foibles and feelings. Meanwhile Australia is on fire and war threatens.”

Jumping to challenge the Leicester-born star, Piers said: “BREAKING: Lineker brands Royal Family ‘weird’ & ‘absurd’ whilst saying we should be mindful of their feelings.”

The presenter accused Piers of taking his comments out of context, responding: “The concept of having a Royal Family, not the family itself. Twist it any way you like, Tubs. Once a tabloid editor, always a tabloid editor.”

In December 2022, Piers made another dig at the broadcaster as he gloated about his show’s ratings success compared to Gary’s new ITV programme, Sitting On a Fortune.

The dad-of-four shared a screenshot of the ratings chart, showing his former show, ‘s Life Stories, with a 14.3% audience share, followed by Escape To The Chateau with 11.3%, and Gary’s show with 10.2%.

Gary hit back: “Well, considering we were up against the absolute monsters of the Doctor Who finale and Strictly, we’re absolutely delighted with the numbers we’re getting.”

However, just one month later, Piers rubbished rumours of a feud between them as they enjoyed dinner together.

He shared a photo of Gary wearing an apron with Chef Gaz written on it, while Piers could be seen grinning as he held a glass of wine. Captioning the image, Piers told his followers that his online rival was making him dinner.

The former Britain’s Got Talent judge wrote: “Decided to finally get my licence fee money out of at his home last night.. have to say, Chef Gaz delivered a quite delicious feast including Gambas al Ajillo and Fillet steak au poivre.

“Did everything himself (for 5 of us) and it was all perfectly cooked. Then he proudly showed off his golden boots, before the shock late Leicester result came through to ruin his evening. All in all, a most enjoyable soirée – and definitely worth 43p!”

In March 2023, Gary was suspended from Match of the Day after making a divisive comment about the government’s tough new stance on small boat migrants, comparing his policy to that of Nazis in 1930s Germany.

Jumping to his defence, Piers branded the “pathetically spineless” for from the programme for breaking impartiality rules.

“WTF? How pathetically spineless.. I now demand the suspend every presenter who has made public comment about news or current affairs – starting with Sir David Attenborough and Lord Sugar,” he furiously penned.

during a broadcast on TalkTV, warning the dad-of-four: “Bad news @GaryLineker – I’m your defence!”

Gary replied back with a tears of laughter emoji, exclaiming: “I’m doooooomed!”

But their kind words were short-lived as after he made critical comments about the England team earlier this year.

Following England’s 1-1 draw against Denmark in their second group game in June, Gary described the team’s performance as “s**t” on the Rest is Football podcast.

Over on X, Gary then asked his followers to provide questions for an upcoming episode of his podcast.

Piers took the opportunity to reply to the post with a question of his own, writing: “Q. Following your description of England’s performance in Euros as ‘sh*t’, do you know of any England players, past or present, who have personal experience of evacuation of excrement during games?”

The broadcaster was referring to the unfortunate incident Gary suffered in the middle of a World Cup match against Ireland in 1990. The serious bowel problem meant he had to be substituted off for Steve Bull.

Yet just a few months later, in October, the duo reunited .

Posting on , Piers posed alongside Gary, cricketer Stuart Broad and broadcaster Mark Austin in the Barnes restaurant, Riva.

Gary could be seen standing on a chair, while the three others smiled at the camera. Piers penned: “We gave Gary a chair so he could feel as big a star as the rest of us.

“A fun, feisty night of sometimes fierce debate over cricket, football, politics, war and the meaning of life – all over lashings of great Italian food and wine at the wonderful Riva restaurant in Barnes. Thanks @markaustintv.”

While the pair appear on good terms at the moment, another online spat is likely around the corner.