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Piers Morgan reduced Sir Michael Parkinson to tears as he asked him to recall dad's death

Sir Michael Parkinson in the royal box of centre court on day four of the Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon.
Sir Michael Parkinson in the royal box of centre court on day four of the Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon.

Sir Michael Parkinson broke down in tears as he was asked to recall his father’s death on Pier’s Morgans Life Stories.

The 84-year-old chat show veteran wept in front of a live studio audience as he opened up about watching his father Jack, a coal miner, lose his life to crippling lung-related condition pneumoconiosis 44 years ago.

Morgan told The Sun: “He described seeing people in the house and told the story of people arriving to take his father’s body away — and how small his father’s body looked.

“And then he suddenly broke down. I think he was as surprised as I was and the audience were.

Read more: Michael Barrymore feels 'raw anger' over the public's unwillingness to accept him as an innocent man

"We haven’t seen him like that. He’s a stiff upper lip, tough, Northern, gritty guy.”

The Good Morning Britain host added: “I was staggered. But only because of the length of time since his father died. I wasn’t expecting him to be so raw about it.”

Parkinson has quizzed a string of celebrities about their own personal lives over the years hosting his own long-running chat show Parkinson.

He has previously spoken about how his father died thinking him a failure after he was turned down by Yorkshire County Cricket Club.

Parkinson revealed in 2013 he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He underwent surgery and radiotherapy and overcame the disease.

But he recently revealed his cancer battle had left him suffering from a weak bladder.

Read more: Sir Michael Parkinson shares a lesser-known side effect of prostate cancer treatment