Susanna Reid, 50, defends showing a 'tiny bit of cleavage' on Good Morning Britain

Her outfits have become as much of a talking point on Good Morning Britain as her opinionated co-host Piers Morgan.

But Susanna Reid has defended showing a "tiny bit of cleavage" on the ITV breakfast show, after accusations her trademark colourful dresses have become too revealing, insisting the looks she opts for are "presentable and appealing".

Speaking to The Times this weekend about how sexism remains alive in media, the TV star, 50, said: "A tiny bit of cleavage on a breakfast programme is probably not going to put most people off their cornflakes."

Reid explained that the programme's stylist chooses what she wears, but that "if it’s too low, I’ll say".

Reid alluded to one particular dress that drew criticism for being too revealing after she wore it on the show last month.

Of her reaction to the news coverage sparked by the v-neck satin frock from brand Nobody's Child, she said: "I just thought, 'Blimey.' I think, 'Look, women have got boobs; let’s not act shocked that they have.'"

The mother-of-three added: "I didn’t think that green dress was too low."

She said: "We 50-year-olds want to be on television for as long as we possibly can. It’s really important that we look presentable and appealing.”

At the time, Reid shared to Instagram a screenshot of a news story, about how the ensemble had sparked debate over whether it was "distracting", with her 550,000 followers.

Captioning the post, she wrote: "SHOCKER! Woman has cleavage."

The picture garnered more than 23,000 'likes' with over 1,000 comments agreeing with her that there had been an overreaction.

Morgan's son Spencer commented: "World’s gone nuts."

Another wrote: "Wear what you want! If people have a problem then I’m concerned for them."

A third shared: "I loved your green dress and didn't see the issue. Clearly lockdown is causing people's boredom to run rampant."

And a fourth added: "I thought the green dress looked amazing! You always look beautiful."

It comes after Morgan said he wouldn't present the programme without his longtime co-host.

He spoke about his and Reid's "rare" connection in an interview with The Sun where he insisted he would never stay on the show if she departed.

The controversial presenter said: "We’re a team. It would be like splitting up '[Thierry] Henry and [Dennis] Bergkamp at Arsenal. Never going to work. You couldn’t have one without the other. Yin and yang.

"We have a connection which is quite rare in television and it works so well that I couldn’t imagine doing it without her."