Pressure made her feel ‘under the cosh’
FERN BRITTON
Fans were shocked when author and presenter Fern Britton announced that she was separating from chef husband Phil Vickery after 20 years of marriage.
She had once revealed the secret to her happy marriage was freedom: ‘He says, “I will be half an hour”. That might be a couple of days. We don’t crowd each other...’ But clearly, in the end, there were cracks too deep to fix with some time apart. Perhaps there were signs of tension going back years. After her 2010 Strictly stint, Fern revealed that Phil hated her fake tan so much, it led to a fight, and days of silence. ‘ We didn’t speak for four days,’ she said.
The couple’s split was announced in February on her Twitter account, saying, simply: ‘After more than 20 happy years together, Phil and I have decided to go our separate ways. We will always share a great friendship and our lovely children.’
For the former This Morning host, the end of her marriage follows the loss of her father, actor Tony Britton, just before Christmas aged 95.
The mum-of-four, 62, who once described Phil, 58 as ‘my life’s great love’, later took to Twitter, admitting to feeling ‘under pressure’, telling her 68.1k followers that she felt ‘under the cosh’. But Fern, who has been open in the past about her struggles with depression, is looking to the future with hope: ‘Life is for living.’ She recently posted a picture of window boxes saying, ‘Reasons to be cheerful. Sweet peas and geranium cuttings doing well. Honeysuckle outside kitchen window greening nicely, Simply daffs doing their job of joy.’ Let’s hope that she carries on finding joy in the every day, and celebrating new beginnings…