Britain’s Got Talent judge Piers Morgan has hit out at the ‘hypocritical’ media who have criticised the show’s handling of Susan Boyle.

In an interview with the Mail On Sunday, Piers said that most of the “media furore” about Boyle’s admission to the Priory was “laughably hypocritical”.

Morgan said: “For the last seven days, there has been a veritable torrent of criticism of Britain’s Got Talent, and the show’s supposed ‘cruel manipulation’ of this allegedly poor, defenceless, vulnerable woman.

“When people say she should never have entered the show, and was ‘exploited’, I say that’s nonsense.”

He added: “Susan had a blast for 90% of the time, and remains a feisty, funny, independent-minded lady with an incredible talent.

“She’s not some sort of cruelly exploited simpleton, as a few ill-informed critics seem to think.”