He’s only one morning into his new role as Good Morning Britain co-host and Piers Morgan has already marked his debut with an awkward interview.

Sitting with Susanna Reid and Richard Arnold, he antagonised X Factor contestant Mason Noise as he pressed him to reveal his real name in the awkward encounter.

Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid (Jonathan Ford/ITV)

Piers, who has moved from guest presenter on ITV’s breakfast show to permanent co-host three days a week, questioned The X Factor singer: “Noise isn’t your name, right? Your name isn’t Noise?”

When Mason replied that the moniker was something which had stuck with him since childhood, Piers continued to press: “So what is your name?”

Looking uncomfortable, Mason replied: “You’ll have to go and Google it.”

Laughing, the new presenter said: “Mason, it’s not Question Time, just, what’s your name?”

But Mason’s reply: “No, it’s like asking Batman what his name is,” evidently riled Piers, who questioned whether the aspiring singer had his ego in check.

ITV
(ITV/screenshot)

“Like asking Batman what his name is! Mason, is this the problem? I was watching you, I loved you sticking it to Simon obviously, but when you liken yourself to Batman, a superhero saving the world, do you think the ego is writing cheques that the body maybe isn’t quite able to cash?” he asked.

And their needling continued on Twitter.

As Morgan noted with glee after his first stint finished, his name was trending all morning.

His appearance, however, was met with mixed reaction on the social media site.

Not everyone was a fan.

There was another awkward moment for Piers when the former newspaper editor’s famous friends were called on to welcome him into his new role.

Piers’s wife Celia Walden sent a good luck clip to the pair, prompting Susanna to say: “Celia feels my pain. From your real wife to your new TV wife.”

But Piers took the opportunity to question whether her new role as his on-screen wife got him any, er, “TV conjugal rights”.

ITV
(ITV/screenshot)

“No,” said Susanna, quickly shooting him down before she awkwardly leaned away as Piers went in for an embrace.

It was followed by Lord Sugar teasing that he now understood what morning sickness felt like from seeing Piers’s face on the breakfast show, while Ant and Dec sent a message from the Australian jungle.

After the show, Lord Sugar helped keep the Twitter traffic up.