Fern Britton expressed her intention to address the subject of Phillip Schofield with “caution and kindness” during her stint on Celebrity Big Brother. The renowned TV personality, known for her role as a presenter on This Morning alongside Schofield for eight years until her departure in 2009, emphasized that her participation in Big Brother at the age of 66 was driven by a desire for new experiences rather than to discuss details about her former co-star.
Schofield, who bid farewell to This Morning last year after over two decades on the show, later confessed to an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a younger colleague before resigning from ITV.
“I’ve signed up to spill the beans,” Britton said.
“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.”
Fern Britton affirmed that “things were tricky” prior to her departure from the beloved daytime program after a decade at its helm.
“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.”
Self-proclaimed “potty mouth” Britton has resided in Cornwall since parting ways with TV chef Phil Vickery in 2020, following two decades of marriage. She has recently enlisted to join the Celebrity Big Brother lineup, driven by a quest for new challenges.
“I said yes because I could do with an adventure and that was it,” she said.
“Here I am, 67 in the summer and still looking forward to an adventure and everybody who’s approaching 60 or is around this age, you can so easily lose confidence.
“The number of women who’d say, ‘well, nobody looks at me anymore. I’m not whistled at anymore’. Invisible, that’s the word.
“Well, maybe that’s a superpower now because you can get away with anything. Let your 60s be your naughtiest decade. Get out while you’re still working, while your body’s still good, your brain’s still good. Enjoy it.”
Celebrity Big Brother airs at 9pm on ITV1, ITVX, STV, and STV Player.