'Cornwall is MY MEDICINE'

Fern Britton on overcoming challenges, the importance of friends and keeping healthy

- WORDS: ARIANA LONGSON

The last few years have been transformative for Fern Britton. After splitting from her husband of 20 years, celebrity chef Phil Vickery, in 2020, the TV presenter has permanently relocated to Cornwall, been busier than ever work wise and undergone a health overhaul.

But while she’s done ‘quite a lot of telly’ recently, Fern, 68, who is best known for co-presenting This Morning from 1999-2009, says that she is now focusing on her career as a writer and has no plans to return to the ITV daytime show. Dispelling rumours that she could be brought back in to steer the ship after an unsettling period for the broadcaster, the star says, ‘[It was] fun but, no, I won't be going back to do This Morning. Never go back, that’s my motto — for anything.’ Instead, she says, ‘My forefront is now being a writer,’ adding, ‘And it’s taken me a long time to accept that.’

Away from work, Fern is finally feeling back to herself after a challenging decade. Having undergone a hysterectomy in 2016, she contracted sepsis and nearly died. But that was just the start. ‘Then my mum died in 2018 and my dad died in 2019, and my marriage died.