Piers Morgan may not have been Top Gear’s number one fan – “mainly because every time I saw Jeremy Clarkson he’d punch me in the head” – but it doesn’t mean he hasn't been following Clarkson and co’s move to on-demand service Amazon Prime Instant Video, and he's not convinced their new car show will necessarily be the big hit they're hoping for.

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“To Amazon Past their Prime?” Morgan teasingly enquired of Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May’s departure to the online streaming service (which followed Clarkson's removal from the BBC show). “I think they will do well globally with the online show, but what they won’t do is have a big audience in this country," he told RadioTimes.com.

“They’ll very quickly realise – as I did after leaving Britain’s Got Talent – that when you’re on these huge shows, you can’t walk around for being mobbed by people but then the oxygen of that fame very quickly diminishes. I would imagine within two years they’ll have a very successful online show, just not many people will be watching it in this country.

“They’ll be able to walk around the streets and, I imagine to Clarkson’s horror, he won’t be being mobbed,” added Morgan, proving that the duo’s public ribbing of each other is still in rude health.

Much to his amusement, Morgan had actually found himself 6/1 favourite to join the rebooted Top Gear after Clarkson left.

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“I denied a rumour that I was favourite to land Top Gear on Twitter and within two days I was 6/1 favourite with the bookies. It was a brilliant bit of misinformation," said Morgan.

“I can’t deny, or talk about, rumours of me replacing Alan Sugar on The Apprentice. They want a younger, better looking model. No comment at the moment,” he added, not missing an opportunity to stoke the fire of yet another playful public feud.

But Morgan is looking forward to seeing what the actual new Top Gear host, Chris Evans, does with the show.

“I think Chris will be good on Top Gear. It’ll be very interesting. He’s a massive car enthusiast, he’s a great broadcaster, I’m interested to see what he does.”

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Piers Morgan's Life Stories returns to ITV on 4th September with Lionel Richie

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