Fern Britton's This Morning feud with Phillip Schofield revealed

This Morning legend Fern Britton will be entering the Celebrity Big Brother house tonight and is set to spill on her former co-host Phillip Schofield.

From 2002 until her exit in 2009, Fern hosted the ITV breakfast programme alongside Phillip, 61, after which she was replaced by Holly Willoughby, who quit the show last year too.

Holly’s departure came after Phillip admitted to having an ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a much-younger colleague before announcing he was leaving ITV altogether.

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In the aftermath of the scandal, Fern didn’t hold back when asked about her former colleague, sharing they ‘no longer speak’, a comment that came after years of the pair making clear they’d had a falling out.

When leaving the show, Fern failed to give any mention to her co-host while Phillip later claimed in his autobiography that the pair had an intense fallout which led to their relationship ‘turning sour’.

But before she enters the house and potentially speaks more about her former colleague, what else do we know about what actually happened between Fern and Phillip?

Why did Fern Britton leave This Morning?

Presenting This Morning alongside Phillip for eight years, Fern left abruptly in 2009, with it later being revealed there had been some tension brewing between the two for some time.

It was initially reported that she left after discovering she was being paid less than her co-host.

But despite the alleged pay difference, she later denied this and said an on-set incident caused her to walk away.

‘There was also a persistent rumour that I left because Phillip was being paid more than me and I always say to people, “Why would I leave a show to go to nothing if I was worried about money?”,’ she said on the Ray D’Arcy Show in 2020.

She added: ‘Something happened and I thought, “That’s it really” and I walked away and resigned. I was treated pretty poorly, actually. And after a while I just thought, “Sod it”.’

In his 2020 biography, Life is What You Make It, Phillip claimed their fallout had stemmed from an argument over the content of a This Morning episode.

He wrote that ‘for whatever reason’, that was ‘the point’ where Fern, 66, decided she didn’t want to work on the show any longer.

What happened with Fern Britton and Phillip Schofield?

Although Phillip also wrote in his biography that he’d tried to ‘make things right’ and that he missed Fern ‘deeply’, they later had a heated interaction on social media after she claimed to not have been invited when the show received a Bafta for 30 years on screen.

He replied on Twitter: ‘Odd really, because she was invited and declined #memoryloss we’d have loved her to be there. A vital and much-loved part of the show.’

In 2013, he revealed to Heat magazine that the pair were ‘not really’ in touch anymore adding to the rumours of a bitter rift.

‘We were involved in the show and mates at the time, but we don’t really…we’re not in touch now,’ he added.

What did Fern Britton say after Phillip Schofield’s This Morning exit?

Before Phillip’s extra-marital affair was revealed, there were rumours he’d also had a fallout with Holly, 42, with Fern seeming to weigh in with a somewhat shady comment last year.

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Posting on social media, Fern mentioned that she had been catching up with Eamonn Holmes, who presented This Morning on Fridays for 15 years, before leaving the show in 2021, and whom also had his own reported falling out with Phillip.

‘Unexpected calls from old mates are so lovely. Just had the loveliest catch up with Eamonn Holmes,’ she posted on Twitter.

People couldn’t help but suggest their conversation must have involved a chat about their former co-host, with one person quipping: ‘Bet you’re both cackling over Phillip.’

Now Fern is said to be gearing up to tell all about their fractured relationship once cameras start rolling inside the house.

‘She wants to show the public a different side to her — unscripted and unapologetic,’ a source told The Sun.

‘She has a lot of stories to tell, and she won’t hold back when it comes to her relationships with people like Phil.

‘They don’t speak anymore so there are no bridges to burn as far as she is concerned.’

Is Fern Britton married?

Fern’s first marriage was to TV executive Clive Jones, whom she met while he was still married.

After a year together she broke off their affair but two days later he turned up on her doorstep after leaving his wife for her.

The couple married in 1988 in Southsea and have three children together: twin sons Jack and Harry (born 1994) and daughter Grace (born 1997). They split in 1998.

A year later, Fern began dating celebrity chef Phil Vickery after they met on the set of Ready Steady Cook.

After her divorce was finalised, they married in 2000.

They have one daughter together, Winifred, who was born in 2001.

After 20 years of marriage, the couple then announced they were separating in 2020.

Two years later he was photographed kissing her best friend, however the pair denied they were an item.

Other cast members of the upcoming Celebrity Big Brother season seemed to be leaked yesterday after they were all snapped entering a hotel on the same day.

Apart from Fern, Real Housewives of Cheshire star Lauren Simon, Strictly Come Dancing professional Nikita Kuzmin, Coronation Street’s Colson Smith, Ibiza Weekender’s David Potts, Love Island’s Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and YouTube star Zeze Mills were all seen.

Celebrity Big Brother starts tonight at 9pm on ITV1.

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