Fern Britton has revealed the secret to her happy marriage with This Morning celebrity chef Phil Vickery. In an exclusive interview with HELLO! magazine, on sale this week, the veteran TV presenter opened up about their "lovely" relationship. "We let each other do our own thing," she said. "I never question him. I am not one of those wives who is constantly sending texts all day long asking where he is, and he doesn't do that to me either. We are very gentle with each other in that sense."
The couple, who share a 16-year-old daughter Winnie, met on the set of Ready Steady Cook, when Fern starred as a presenter. They married in 2000 after Fern's divorce from her first husband, TV executive Clive Jones, was finalised. Fern and her ex-husband Clive also share twin sons Jack and Harry, 23, and a daughter Grace, 20.
"We let each other do our own thing," said Fern
The mother-of-four is set to star in a touring production of the hit stage show Calendar Girls the Musical later this year, and is already anticipating feeling homesick. Although, Fern is also looking forward to some time alone. "It will be quite nice to have days to myself in a nice hotel room and write my next book rather than thinking, 'I had better do housework,'" she said.
Fern has had a glam new makeover!
These days, the popular star has transitioned into a best-selling author. She now juggles her writing with TV and radio presenting, as well as charity work. Most fans will remember her for her decade-long stint on This Morning, and her shock departure in 2009. But Fern has now denied she left because of the rumoured pay gap between herself and co-host Phillip Schofield.
Fern shows off new tattoo on This Morning
"I did ten years of it and I loved that show – I can't tell you how much I loved it. But after ten years I just felt it was right to stop," she told HELLO!. "I had no idea what Phillip had been paid; I knew what I was being paid and it was more than fair. It is appalling that, if you are doing the same job as a man, you are paid less and I am absolutely all for equal pay but at the time, even if Phillip had been paid more than me, he was doing more programmes on television."