Fern Britton has opened up about her personal life post-divorce in an unexpected moment with her Celebrity Big Brother housemate Louis Walsh.
In a first-look teaser ahead of Thursday's episode, the pair discussed their decades-long careers, with the former X Factor judge offering some words of wisdom.
© Jon Furniss"I'm ready to slow down, like you, I've been working solidly since I was 20," Fern, 66, confessed to Louis, who agreed and said: "You realise what life is, and realise, 'Why haven't I done this before? Why didn't I go there? Why didn't I do that?'"
The 71-year-old added: "Fern, if you pick the right person you'll have great fun, you might fall in love." However, Fern replied: "I don't want to fall in love again…"
Fern, who shot to fame hosting nineties cooking show Ready Steady Cook and This Morning, has been married twice. She is a mum-of-four, sharing her eldest three children twins Harry and Jack, 29, and Grace, 26, with her former husband Clive Jones.
The TV star married celebrity chef Phil Vickery in 2000 and they went on to welcome their daughter Winnie, now aged 22, in 2001. The couple announced their separation early in 2020, after 20 years of marriage.
Opening up about the reason for their split, Fern previously confessed they "grew apart" during the final years and months of their relationship. "My mum died and my father died and unfortunately Phil and I fell apart," she revealed on Good Morning Britain in 2020.
© Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock"I had to write this book and get it out on the deadline and I was very late with it so thank goodness for my publisher and my editor for sticking with me," the TV star added. "Then lockdown happens and you think, 'I needed that rest', you know?"
The former This Morning host further elaborated in a candid conversation with Woman & Home magazine that their relationship had evolved, but they will "always be connected" through their daughter.
"We simply needed to follow our own paths," she explained. "Over time we realised we weren't necessarily having the kind of life we once did. It seemed right to say 'thank you' and move on. But we do have a good friendship.
"Phil and I had the greatest fun together and we have the most beautiful daughter together, Winnie... so we will always be connected."
