Fern Britton denies Big Brother sign-up is to 'spill beans' on Phillip ...

TV star Britton, who presented This Morning alongside Schofield for eight years before exiting in 2009, said she had joined Big Brother looking for a new adventure at the age of 66 and not to divulge information about her former co-star.

Schofield left This Morning last year after more than two decades, before admitting to an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a younger colleague and stepping down from ITV.

“Apparently I’ve signed up to spill the beans,” Britton told the Mirror.

“Well, right now, I can tell you that I think let’s approach with caution and kindness. It’s fair to say that towards the end we were not getting on.”

Britton confirmed “things were tricky” before her exit from the popular daytime show after a decade at its helm.

“I haven’t been on that show for 15 years. I don’t know anything that’s been going on since then. And so it would be A, very old views. B, not terribly interesting, but I did love This Morning. I absolutely loved it.

“I wasn’t expecting to resign on the day I resigned.

“There’s a lot of stuff that I have obviously learned from and toughened up a bit. And it hasn’t all been a breeze, but I don’t regret, apart from if I’d put my mind to it, I could have done more.”

Self-confessed “potty mouth” Britton has lived in Cornwall since splitting from TV chef Phil Vickery in 2020 after two decades of marriage and signed up to join the Celebrity Big Brother line-up as she is looking for a new challenge.

“I said yes because I could do with an adventure and that was it,” she said.

“Here I am, 67 in the summer and still looking forward to an adventure and everybody who’s approaching 60 or is around this age, you can so easily lose confidence.

“The number of women who’d say, ‘well, nobody looks at me anymore. I’m not whistled at anymore’. Invisible, that’s the word.

“Well, maybe that’s a superpower now because you can get away with anything. Let your 60s be your naughtiest decade. Get out while you’re still working, while your body’s still good, your brain’s still good. Enjoy it.”

Celebrity Big Brother continues tomorrow at 9pm on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.