04 March 2024 , 08:00
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We could be about to find out exactly what went down between Fern Britton and Phil Schofield straight from the horse's mouth if she goes into the Celebrity Big Brother house.
Before Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield became the king and queen of daytime TV, Phil giggled and laughed his way through ITV’s This Morning with another presenting favourite - Fern Britton. The pair hosted the show together from 2002 to 2009 and before Phil she sat alongside John Leslie.
However, after 10 years at the helm of the hugely popular magazine style programme and less than halfway through her contract, Fern dramatically quit and Holly stepped in as her replacement. At the time, she told fans she was leaving to spend more time with her family, but a different version of events soon came to light.
It was later reported that she walked after finding out that Phil was being paid £250,000 more than her. Friends of the TV star revealed that she felt "undervalued" by ITV bosses and was "living in Phil's shadow". It was also reported that he had earned three times her salary while they were presenting game show Mr & Mrs together - him reportedly earning £45,000 per hour to her £15,000. When she announced her departure, she paid tribute to the entire team but failed to mention Phil’s name.
In 2013, he revealed to Heat magazine that the pair were "not really" in touch anymore adding to the rumours of a bitter rift. "We were involved in the show and mates at the time, but we don't really," he said. "I see Phil [Fern's then-husband, chef Phil Vickery] when he's in This Morning... But we're not in touch now."
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British Soap Awards winners in 2007 (REX/Shutterstock)
In happier times in 2004 (Getty Images)Around the same time and in what was viewed as a dig at his close friendship with Holly, whom he often socialised with and went on family trips together, Fern told MailOnline: "I always say Phillip and I had an indefinable chemistry which seemed to work well on-screen," she said. "We 'got' each other. We enjoyed a laugh. And viewers seemed to warm to that. But, like Morecambe and Wise, we chose not to live in each other’s pockets. We were a great professional partnership but we never went on holiday together."
In 2016, Fern denied reports she left the show over a pay gap. She told Hello! magazine: "That certainly wasn't true, not least because I had no idea what Phillip had been paid, she said.
Later that year, Fern didn’t turn up to the programme's 25th birthday celebrations. She denied she had been snubbed because of the feud and said she was just busy.
Fern on the Lorraine show in 2022 (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)But things boiled over following the show's 30th anniversary in 2018. Fern was interviewed via video link as part of the celebrations and said to Phil: "Congrats on the BAFTA. That was absolutely wonderful and brilliant. I would have loved to have been there but I didn't get an invitation."
Phil disagreed and said it was because she had been on stage in Scotland so couldn’t have made it but she replied: "I wasn't on Monday night, I would have come but I wasn't invited."
After the awkward interaction, the pair traded blows online when the spat moved on to where the pair shared their thoughts in public - and Phil even made a cruel jibe. Commenting on the difficult incident, Phil wrote: "Odd really, because she was invited and declined #memoryloss we'd have loved her to be there. A vital and much-loved part of the show." Fern retweeted his post and hit back: "No. I had no invitation to decline."
The plot thickened when Fern's agents admitted they'd made a mistake and had declined the invite on her behalf.
Much later in his 2020 book Life Is What You Make It, Phil revealed he had an awkward disagreement with Fern back in 2009 when she accused him of "meddling" with the content of the show.
He wrote: "I walked back into the make-up room and calmly said, 'Please don't do that to me again’. I think, for whatever reason, that was the point Fern decided she didn't want to do This Morning any more." Phil also revealed Fern didn’t reach out to him after he came out as gay on This Morning in 2020, but that she did message his wife Steph.
Following the scandal when Phil’s secret "unwise, but not illegal" extramarital affair with a younger male member of the This Morning crew was exposed, Fern appeared to make a loaded comment about her former co-star, teasing that she'd had the "loveliest catch up" with Phil 's staunch rival Eamonn Holmes.
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She tweeted: "Unexpected calls from old mates are so lovely. Just had the loveliest catch up with @EamonnHolmes.. I think we have known each other since the 80's when we were babies [crying laughing emoji]. Shooting the breeze [three red love heart emojis]."
Fans were quick to respond to the tweet, with one quipping: "Did you have a nice chat? Bet you’re both cackling over Phillip." "Mmmm wonder what hot topic of conversation you giggled and snorted about," another speculated. "Did you discuss things like Karma and how truth always finds a way out? I love deep and meaningful convos like that!" a third wrote.
Now Fern is said to have signed up to appear on ITV ’s revived version of Celebrity Big Brother - which is scheduled to hit screens on March 4. Reports have teased that Fern is ready to tell all about her fractured relationship with Phil once she is inside the famous reality show house.
A source told The Sun "She wants to show the public a different side to her — unscripted and unapologetic. She has a lot of stories to tell and she won’t hold back when it comes to her relationships with people like Phil. They don’t speak anymore so there are no bridges to burn as far as she is concerned." An ITV spokesperson told the Mirror: "Any names for Celebrity Big Brother are purely speculation."
Do you think Fern would make a good housemate? Let us know in the comments below.