Piers Morgan, 54, and Susanna Reid, 48, interviewed Jennifer Arcuri for over an hour on Good Morning Britain today, where they discussed her “close relationship” with Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The American has recently been at the centre of a row over whether Boris failed to declare a conflict of interest over their relationship.
It comes after she was reportedly given £126,000 in public money and privileged access to three foreign trade missions led by the now-prime minister while he was in City Hall as Mayor of London.
Ahead of the big interview, Susanna gave viewers a heads up and wrote on Twitter: “Jennifer Arcuri says she is ready to ‘tell the truth’ – next on @gmb.”
BBC Breakfast host, Dan Walker, complimented Good Morning Britain for getting Jennifer on the show, but asked how much they paid for her.
He responded to Susanna’s post, in view of his 579,000 Twitter followers: “Good get. On the theme of transparency… can we ask how much you paid her?”
Piers ended up replying to Dan, where he appeared to make a little dig at his rival’s salary on BBC Breakfast.
He wrote back: “Sure, less than I got paid today to do the interview, but more than you got paid today to host @BBCBreakfast.”
Dan then claimed Piers was making it all about “him” as he claimed he heard Jennifer was asking for a large sum of money.
The presenter said: “I know you love making EVERY story about you but are you able to answer the question rather than deflect? I heard she was asking for 6 figures,” alongside a money bag and laughing emoji.
During the interview, Jennifer refused to answer six times whether she had an affair with Boris.
The 34-year-old former model responded with “I’m not answering” when asked whether she had an intimate relationship with the prime minister after they met in October 2011.
“I am really not going to answer that question. I am being used as a pawn. This entire thing is a crazy charade,” she replied.
“It’s not [relevant]. Boris had nothing to do with all my achievements. It’s absolute c**p, it’s why I’m not answering this question.”
“It’s really categorically no-one’s business,” she added.
She went on to tell the presenters: “I’m not answering, that’s my record. Please don’t misuse my words…It’s not really anyone’s business what private life we had.
“These are insinuations and third party hearsay. Would you like me to ask about your sex life? I am objectified.”
Jennifer continued: “I think we’re forgetting that Boris is extremely personable. It wasn’t like he singled me out. He is there to talk to anybody if they get in his face enough.
The former Mayor of London has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. He said everything he did when promoting London overseas as Mayor was done in “complete conformity with the code and the rules”.
Good Morning Britain airs weekday mornings at 6am on ITV.