The white civil rights leader exposed for pretending to be black was accused of doing 'a runner' by Piers Morgan today as she pulled out of an interview.

Rachel Dolezal, 39, a former branch president for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was due to appear on Good Morning Britain.

But Morgan tweeted: 'So Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who "identifies" as black, has done a runner and now won't be on GMB today. I identify her as a coward.'

Rachel Dolezal (left) was due to be on Good Morning Britain with Piers Morgan (right) today

Morgan labelled Miss Dolezal a 'coward' for not appearing on the ITV programme this morning

He said on the ITV show: 'We were going to be interviewing Rachel Dolezal, who is the quite infamous American woman who is white - and was born to white parents - but identifies as black, which is obviously ridiculous.

'We were looking forward to talking to her about that, she's written a book, but she's done a runner.

'Couldn't stand the heat, so she's got out of the kitchen before we've even put the kettle on, to torture that metaphor.

Morgan added 'So, my apologies. Wherever you are, Miss Dolezal, I think we know why you don't want to talk about this, don't we?

'Because you're not black, you're white, and I was going to say to you "why do you pretend to be black when you're white?"

She pulled out to the dismay of viewers who had been looking forward to the interview today

'Because actually it's incredibly insulting, very offensive and I think that's why you've done a runner. So, my apologies to our viewers who were looking forward to that debate, I was too.

'But I think she is now identifying as a coward, and there's not much you can do about that.'

Miss Dolezal, who was born blue-eyed and blonde, hit the headlines in 2015 after it emerged that she had been posing as an African-American for around a decade.

According to her parents, the activist had misled people about her ethnicity for years - and even tried to pass off a black child they adopted as her own son.

Miss Dolezal, who is from Spokane, Washington, once claimed to have faced repeated harassment from white racists who once hung a noose in her garage.

Miss Dolezal (right) is pictured with others at a rally in Spokane, Washington, in March 2015

She also said watching the film 12 Years A Slave at the cinema was an ordeal because she was stared at by others wanting to gauge a black person's reaction.

The NAACP had publicly backed Miss Dolezal, but local members were critical and she said in June 2015 it was in the group's 'best interest' for her to step down.

She was also kicked off a police ombudsman commission and lost her job teaching African studies at Eastern Washington University in nearby Cheney.

She has not had a regular job since the revelations emerged,but has written an autobiography, 'In Full Color: Finding My Place in a Black and White World'.

Morgan, DailyMail.com U.S. Editor-at-Large, was expecting to interview her today and the GMB Twitter account said at 7.27am that it would be coming up.

DailyMail.com U.S. Editor-at-Large Morgan presented Good Morning Britain with Susanna Reid

But the 52-year-old presenter tweeted at 7.49am that she had pulled out to the dismay of ITV viewers who had been looking forward to the interview.

Lucy Weaver tweeted: 'That's annoying, I'm watching on +1 and was looking forward to that. Would have been a colourful discussion.'

And Twitter user SKB Baby added: 'Shame! I was looking forward to that interview. She is a high, highly offensive delisional individual.'

Meanwhile Simon Lennon tweeted: 'Maybe she identifies as being on GMB today. Saying otherwise would be oppressive.'