Fern Britton reflected on her ‘difficult and upsetting’ exit from This Morning in 2009 and her huge fallout with former co-host Phillip Schofield.

The pair presented This Morning together for seven years from 2002 until 2009 when Fern departed the programme and was replaced by Holly Willoughby.

And the TV presenter has now shared hope for ex nemesis Phillip to ‘find some happiness’ after his affair scandal destroyed his TV career.

It was claimed at the time Fern’s departure was due to the fact she was ‘sick of living in Phil’s shadow’ while he was paid ‘three times her salary’, before she admitted in a 2013 interview that ‘we’re not in touch now’.

Speaking to The Guardian, Fern said of her exit: ‘I don’t really want to go into that. I probably won’t ever but yes, it was a day that turned on a sixpence, and suddenly I thought: “I’ve got to get out of here”.’

Fern addressed her fall out with Phil and how he stepped down from This Morning over the affair scandal, ‘It was very mixed emotions for me, that one.’

Fern Britton reflected on her ‘difficult and upsetting’ exit from This Morning in 2009 and a huge fallout with former co-host Phillip Schofield

She continued: ‘I can’t really explain it, because we did have a very good working relationship until we didn’t, so it was tricky. I wish him well and I hope it all settles down and he finds some happiness’.

Phillip stepped down from This Morning and subsequently all TV projects after he admitted to an ‘unwise but not illegal’ affair with a 20-year-old crew member on the daytime show.

Holly Willoughby, who took over hosting duties on This Morning from Fern, released a statement at the time saying she had felt ‘hurt’ by his ‘lies’.

Holly stepped down from presenting This Morning after 14 years on the show due to a terrifying kidnap threat and subsequently took time out from the spotlight.

Phillip is also said to have called Holly ‘The Witch’ following the pair’s departure from their presenting roles.

Tensions between the pair reached further heights when Phil boldly declared there were ‘three s**ts’ at ITV on his Channel 5 show Cast Away.

The pair used to be best friends, with their families even taking annual holidays together, but the bitter feud appears to have been reignited.

Phillip is said to have told Holly that she ‘brought him down’ before he resigned from This Morning.

Since leaving This Morning, Fern became a successful author, publishing a number of Sunday Times best selling novels – as well as appearing in various TV projects.

She presented BBC series Fern Britton Meets, as well as The Big Allotment Challenge, and The Watercolour Challenge, and appearing on Celebrity Big Brother in 2024.

In 2020, Fern announced that she had ‘unexpectedly’ split from her husband of 20 years, fellow TV star and celebrity chef Phil Vickery.

Speaking to Good Housekeeping in 2023, Fern said she has ‘entered a new phase of her life’, because she is no longer married and her children are now adults.

She explained: ‘It’s as if this whole other world has opened up. I never thought this would happen; I didn’t expect to be 65 and single and really relaxed.’

Back in 2022, Fern’s former husband Phil was spotted kissing her former best friend Lorraine Stanton – leaving Fern ‘heartbroken and dumbstruck’.

The pair presented This Morning together for seven years from 2002 until 2009 when Fern departed the programme and was replaced by Holly Willoughby

A source told Daily Mail at the time that Fern was left embarrassed by the news becoming public so made a statement in order to minimise the situation and ‘stop it getting out of control’.

Fern has since revealed she has been making changes in her life both physically and mentally after feeling like she wasn’t doing enough to look after herself.

The former This Morning host explained: ‘About a year or so ago, I realised that I wasn’t looking after myself – physically or mentally.

‘I wasn’t doing exercise, I was eating too much and suddenly, it was like I flipped a switch and I thought, “No, you’ve got to look after yourself’.

‘So I started doing that, and it’s given me a new sort of energy. I do a bit of yoga and I’ve started doing the Couch to 5k running app.

‘I’m very slow – I’ve got arthritis in one of my knees and I’m about to have a shoulder replacement – but I just thought, “It’s only three miles, come on!” I’m not intending to run a long marathon or beat anybody, but I do enjoy the fitness side of it.’