Since breakfast TV first hit screens in 1983, it has never been short of bringing shock or hilarity to viewers over their morning coffee and cornflakes.

Whether it be an explosive row, cheeky innuendos, or a toe-curling exchange, early morning programmes have always amused millions of UK viewers.

This year BBC Breakfast has celebrated its 40th Anniversary, with a laundry list of presenters including Susanna Reid, Dan Walker and Naga Manchetty taking a spot on the famous red sofa to interview politicians, celebrities and other local stars.

GMTV has also celebrated its 30th birthday this year, after making stars of names such as Fiona Phillips and Kate Garraway, before being rebranded as Good Morning Britain in 2014, after its predecessor Daybreak was axed.

MailOnline has taken a look through the archives and discovered some of breakfast TV's most iconic moments, so let's take a look back... 

Piers Morgan storms out of GMB after fiery Meghan Markle debate

After Meghan Markle's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, Piers sparked a furious reaction when he discussed it on Good Morning Britain in March 2021.

The broadcaster claimed that he didn't 'believe a word' The Duchess Of Sussex said during her interview, leading to a tense exchange with co-star Alex Beresford.

Piers walked off set after a fierce debate with Alex, in which the weather presenter accused Piers of unfairly 'trashing' Meghan, and branded him 'diabolical'.

When Piers walked off screen, Alex continued: 'I'm sorry but Piers just spouts off on a regular basis and we have to sit there and listen.'

Piers later returned to the GMB set and completed the show, but it sparked a wildfire social media campaign against him that resulted in over 41,000 complaints to TV watchdog Ofcom.

Piers, who refused to apologise, later announced his resignation and tweeted his thanks to the GMB team, praising them for their 'hard work and dedication'.

He has since gone onto join TalkTV with a nightly primetime show, while his co-host Susanna Reid remains on GMB with a rotation of different co-stars. 

David Blaine's car-crash 'interview'

Famous for stunning Londoners with his attempt to walk on water, David left GMTV viewers cringing over their cornflakes when he was 'interviewed' by host Eamonn Holmes.

The 2001 chat saw the illusionist answered all of Eamonn's questions in a monotonous voice, before flashing his eye tattoo at the camera and staring directly at the host.

Eamonn desperately tried to spark a conversation between them during the six minutes of interview time, but failed.

In 2019, when he was reunited with Eamonn on This Morning, David explained he decided at the last minute to behave that way during the interview, to ensure everyone in the green room was actually paying attention.

He said: 'I noticed no-one was watching their friends go on, so I thought, 'I'm going to make sure everyone looks''

'I thought I'm going to make people watch me - I was thinking a card trick would be too boring it and won't stop them talking so I came up with that idea last minute. Which I thought was funny.'

Eamonn jokingly said back to him: 'I'm glad someone thought it was funny.'

David carried on by saying that he achieved his goal: 'As I walked past the green room I looked in and everyone had their mouths open and they were just staring at the TV screen.'

While Eamonn said: 'Do you not think that was a wicked thing to do? It was the longest six minutes of my life.'

Carol Kirkwood's on-air gaffe

While BBC Breakfast is best known for its famous red sofa, it is also no stranger to an on-air gaffe.

During an outside broadcast from Greenwich Park 2020, weather presenter Carol Kirkwood, could be heard explaining: 'Greenwich park is one of the oldest enclosed of royal parks and look at it - fabulous!'

However, in a very unfortunate slip of the tongue, she continued: 'The sun is beating down and we've seen lots of doggers - not doggers of course - dog walkers and joggers, around here during the course of this morning.'

Taking to Twitter following the gaffe, Carol penned: 'That will teach me to try and say joggers and dog walkers in the same sentence!!! Sorry! xxx'

Greenwich Council also responded and amusingly commented: 'We're happy to say that there are plenty of great parks across the borough that are perfect for joggers and dog walkers...just thought you should know @carolkirkwood.' 

And it seemed Carol wasn't the only one to see the funny side of the amusing gaffe - as viewers were quick to take to Twitter after being left in stitches by the blunder.

Patsy Palmer storming out of her interview on GMB

Days after Piers Morgan's shocking walk-out, GMB found itself embroiled in another controversy, when former EastEnders star Patsy stormed off the show after being branded an 'addict turned wellness guru' in an on-screen strapline.

She shut down a video interview from her Malibu home after taking exception to the ITV show's strap line, saying her 20-year battle with drink and drugs was 'many, many years ago.'

She said: 'I think you do... You know what actually I'm not, I don't even want to do this interview because I don't even want to look at what it says at the bottom of that screen. 

'I'm going to switch off, do a real Piers Morgan and say it's not ok to have ''addict to wellness guru'' on the bottom of the screen. You know, my issues I had years ago that were talked about by me many many years ago and it's over.' 

Ben replied: 'So sorry about that Patsy. Huge apologies, it wasn't our intention to upset you, that's obviously a quote from Patsy's book, and as she's talked about in the past.'

While Susanna added: 'Well that's a terrible shame, our apologies to Patsy.'

After Patsy quit the interview, Ben explained that the strap line shown was a quote from Patsy herself - taken from her autobiography.

Ben said: 'That's a quote from her book, and she's promoting a wellness brand, but we are sorry Patsy.'

While Susanna added: 'I have no idea that was on the a screen. Our apologies to Patsy, she's entitled not to do the interview and we just carry on.' 

Patsy did not return to complete the interview. 

Mike Bushell takes a plunge

BBC Breakfast sports presenter Mike Bushell is no stranger to entertaining viewers, after appearing on Strictly Come Dancing in 2019.

But a year earlier he left fans in utter hysterics when he took a tumble while interviewing swimmers competing in the 2018 Commonwealth Games on Australia's Gold Coast

The sports broadcaster's blunder on live TV left him completely soaked while the swimmers could not contain their laughter at his misfortune.

Before stepping into the pool, Bushell said: 'I'm going to have to jump into the water.

'I'm going to have to be careful because I've got a sound pack on.'

Despite his best efforts, Bushell then slipped, falling into the pool and damaging some of his equipment. 

England's gold medalists Adam Peaty, Sarah Vasey and Siobhan Marie O'Connor burst into fits of laughter while Ben Proud and James Guy could not contain their amusement. 

Mike tried to carry on as if nothing happened, talking to Sarah Vasey about her success in the 50m breaststroke, but was soon hampered by technical difficulties.

During the interview, the sound cut out and eventually had to cut back to the BBC studio in Britain.

BBC Breakfast presenter Charlie Stayt said: 'If you're just joining us, Mike is carrying on talking but we can't hear him because a moment ago he fell in the water.'

He eventually managed to complete his interview five minutes later, before adding: 'I thought it was a jacuzzi or a kids pool, I didn't realise there was a step.'

Lorraine Kelly and Esther McVey's VERY awkward reunion

She is normally painted as one of the friendliest presenters on TV, but in 2019, Lorraine showed her spiky side when snubbed her former GMTV colleague Esther McVey.

Having ditched TV for a career in politics, Esther was a guest on GMB to discuss the Conservative Party leadership race, and following the interview hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid noted that she used to host GMTV.

Appearing during their daily handover to Lorraine, Piers noted that Lorraine must know Esther from her breakfast TV days, and she bluntly replied: 'Yep. Yes I do.'

Poking fun at her frostyy reaction, Piers asked: 'So you got on with Esther then Lorraine?' and the flustered broadcaster replied: 'I don't remember, I don't remember, I don't remember at all. It was a long time ago.'

Viewers quickly clocked the tension between the pair and took to Twitter to question whether they'd had a behind-the-scenes feud.

Clarifying her reaction on a later programme, Lorraine said: 'I'm just annoyed that there is something rotten at the heart of politics and it's annoyed me. You don't want to get me angry, Piers, you won't like me when I'm angry.'

When asked by Morgan if she was a fan of McVey's politics she said she 'strongly disagrees with her on LGBT rights'.