Fern Britton is back on our screens as one of 12 famous faces taking part in the brand new series of Celebrity Big Brother. The TV star and author is a household name across the nation thanks to her illustrious presenting career, including as a host on ITV's This Morning, which she famously quit in 2009 after ten years.
Fern's exit sparked rumours of a feud between her and co-star Phillip Schofield, who went on to host the show alongside Holly Willoughby until 2023. But what exactly happened between Fern and Phillip and what has she said about their relationship? Here's all we know…
Why did Fern Britton quit This Morning?
In 2009, after spending a decade as a full-time presenter on This Morning, Fern announced her departure.
"After ten years with This Morning, I have decided to leave the show at the end of the current series," Fern said in a statement at the time, failing to mention her co-star, Phillip. "I will present my last show on July 17, my birthday, which seems somehow appropriate. The This Morning team are simply the best and I will miss them all very much but I am looking forward to the freedom of exploring other things I want to do, and also spend more time with my wonderful family. So, many thank yous to all our viewers who have shown me so much kindness and loyalty."
Two days later, Fern pulled out of hosting the 2009 British Soap Awards alongside Phillip, fuelling speculation about a fallout.
What has Fern said about her This Morning departure and relationship with Phillip?
Following Fern's exit, it was reported that she'd walked away after discovering she was being paid less than her co-star.
Dispelling the rumours, she told HELLO! in 2018: "That certainly wasn't true, not least because I had no idea what Philip had been paid; I knew what I was being paid and it was more than fair. It's 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."
Then in 2020, during an appearance on the Ray D'Arcy Show, Fern gave further insight into her decision to leave the programme. "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'."
Was that "something" a disagreement with her co-host behind the scenes? Phillip seems to think so.
In his 2020 memoir, Life's What You Make It, the 61-year-old recalled a time when the pair argued over the content of one of the show's episodes.
"I walked back into the make-up room and calmly said, 'Please don't do that to me again'," he wrote. "I think, for whatever reason, that was the point Fern decided she didn't want to do This Morning anymore."
Phillip went on to add that he was "heartbroken" that she was leaving and that their "friendship had inexplicably gone so sour".
Ahead of going into the Celebrity Big Brother house, Fern revealed that she and Phillip "were not getting on" towards the end of her stint as host.
"Apparently I've signed up to spill the beans!" she 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. Things were tricky.
"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."
What did Fern say after Phillip's This Morning exit?
In May last year, Phillip stepped down from his role on This Morning and admitted to an "unwise but not illegal" affair with a younger male colleague on the show.
While Fern didn't explicitly refer to Phillip's departure at the time, she took to social media to say that she'd been catching up with fellow former This Morning host Eamonn Holmes, who has had his own public fallout with Phillip.
"Unexpected calls from old mates are so lovely. Just had the loveliest catch up with Eamonn Holmes," she wrote.