ITV Celebrity Big Brother's Fern Britton's 'tricky' Phillip Schofield ...

Phillip Schofield will be breathing a sigh of relief this evening, as his old foe Fern Britton promises to approach conversations about him inside the Celebrity Big Brother house "with kindness".

Former This Morning star Fern, 66, was unveiled as one of the ITV show's celebrity contestants earlier this evening, with many Big Brother fans hoping the presenter-turned-author will share some scandalous showbiz tales with her housemates during her debut reality TV stint.

But speaking with the Mirror ahead of entering the famous house, Fern dismissed claims she signed up for the series in order to take a swipe at her old This Morning co-host Schofield - but admitted things turned sour between herself and the dad-of-two towards the end of their TV partnership.

Before Holly Willoughby and Schofield captured everyone's hearts as the daytime TV royalty, Schofield presented ITV's This Morning favourite, Fern Britton. The pair were co-hosts of the award-winning programme from 2002 to 2009, with Fern even presenting with John Leslie before Phil.

But after a decade fronting the popular magazine-style show and not even having completed half her contract, Fern suddenly quit and Holly stepped in. Fern's abrupt exit sparked rumours of a feud between her and Schofield - with some suggesting Fern quit due to Schofield being paid more than her.

"Apparently I've signed up to spill the beans! 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. Things were tricky," Fern told the Mirror ahead of entering the Celebrity Big Brother house this evening.

She continued: "There are some things that I think as a collective almost nation there are things you can't and wouldn't want to hear or see or be talked about. 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." Fern then told how she wanted to go to Basra with This Morning to cover the war but Schofield said he "didn't look good in an orange jumpsuit" and wouldn't go.

Fern added: "I said, 'I don't think they're going to be taking you hostage and sticking you in Guantanamo Bay'. But anyway, he wouldn't come. So that was fine. And I went with a director, she and I, and whenever we see each other, we’re Basra buddies. We had lots of incoming fire and we were on tanks and we were talking to everybody and it was the most incredible experience and I really enjoyed it."

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