Piers Morgan has revealed his viral interview with Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef has become his most-watched since the Piers Morgan Uncensored show was launched last year.
More than 16 million people have now watched the 33-minute segment since it was uploaded on to YouTube on Wednesday.
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In response, Youssef has suggested they do a “round two” and said he “truly enjoyed” their conversation.
“Let’s have a one-on-one interview in the studio over coffee and without a faulty ear piece. Who could have imagined? Until last March I was blocked by you on Twitter (I deserved it). You were very gracious about it even though you discovered it a minute before we went on air. But since then we have had wonderful conversations,” Youssef tweeted.
He also added that he hates Piers’ viewpoints but said talking to him was an “absolute joy”.
“Let’s do it again on @PiersUncensored. #Piers_vs_Bassem The Sequel. People of X. Retweet if you want to see this. Let’s have a ‘Halloween’ themed episode,” he wrote. More than 22,000 people have retweeted the suggestion.
During the interview, the comedian shared that his wife, who is half Palestinian, still had family in Gaza whom he referenced when Morgan asked about his opinion on the Hamas attacks.
“Oh, it was terrible, of course,” Youssef replied. “I mean, we get all our news second-hand because my wife’s family lives in Gaza. They have cousins and uncles there and their house also was bombed.
“We haven't been able to communicate with them in the past three days. Communication has been lost so we don't know how they are doing, but we are used to that.”
He then went into a deeper satirical take to describe the conditions Palestinians in Gaza are facing as well as the threat of more attacks from the Israeli military.
“Those Palestinians, they’re very dramatic. ‘Ah, Israel is killing us,’ but they never die,” he declared. “I mean, they always come back. They’re very difficult to kill, very difficult people to kill. I know, because I’m married to one. I tried many times. I try to get to her every time, but she uses our kids as human shields.”
Although Morgan noted that Youssef was using “dark humour” in response, he asked the comedian to be serious about the topic.
Youssef went on to mock the Israeli military and said, “I applaud Israel for doing something no military force in the world does. It warns civilians before bombing them, that is so cute.”
“I asked my wife's family if Hamas forced them to stay home so that they could be bombed and can be used as human shields and she denied it,” he told Morgan.
Later on Wednesday after the interviewed aired, Youssef took to X to suggest it was cut short at the end.
“I disagree with Piers about a lot of things,” he tweeted. “But I do respect him bringing people with opposing views and giving them space to talk despite the heated conversations and interruptions (I am guilty of that too).” He then jokingly suggested they fly him out to London on first class to continue the conversation.
