Fern & Phil: It’s over
TV’s sofa darlings announce end of 20-year marriage
FERN Britton and her celebrity chef husband Phil Vickery are separating after 20 years of marriage, they announced last night.
The TV presenter, 62, broke the shock news on Twitter, telling her 67,200 followers that she and Vickery, 58, had made the decision together.
‘After more than 20 happy years together, Phil and I have decided to go our separate ways,’ she wrote.
‘We will always share a great friendship and our lovely children. We would appreciate it if our privacy is respected at this time.’
Miss Britton, who is now the author of six bestselling novels, added: ‘Thank you for your continued kindness and support.’
She and Vickery, her second husband, have a daughter Winnie, 18, while the presenter is also mother to twins Harry and Jack, 26, and daughter Grace, 23, from her first marriage to TV executive Clive Jones.
She met Vickery while hosting Ready Steady
Cook a year after she split from Mr Jones. The couple began dating in 1999 and married the following year. Winnie was born in 2001.
The pair have enjoyed hugely successful separate careers but released a cookbook together, Fern and Phil’s Family Food, in 2003.
They also appeared together regularly on ITV’s This Morning, which Miss Britton fronted for a decade from 1999 and Vickery joined as chef in 2006.
After meeting Vickery, Miss Britton said in an interview: ‘The boys were four; Grace hadn’t even started toddling.
‘I remember thinking at the time that nobody was going to take a 40-something woman with three kids.
‘Then, one day at work, someone said, “Phil Vickery fancies you”. And I went, “Remind me - which one is he?”
‘Eventually, I kidnapped him, put him and his dirty washing – he was single at the time – in my car and drove him home. The next day, he baked me his irresistible gooseberry crumble.’
However, in August, before setting off on a touring production of the musical version of Calendar Girls, Miss Britton admitted she and Vickery, who still appears on This Morning, had not spent much time together in the previous year.
‘He has always been my best friend and he always says I’m his best friend, too, which is amazing,’ she said.
‘We haven’t seen much of each other in the past year, as I have been on tour with Calendar Girls and he has been filming, but our solid base is absolutely there.’ She and Vickery appeared to synchronise the announcement of their separation with matching Twitter posts shared at 7pm.
It comes little more than one month after the death of Miss Britton’s father.
Actor Tony Britton, known for appearing in sitcoms including Don’t Wait Up and Robin’s Nest, died just before Christmas aged 95.
Sharing the news of his death, Miss Britton wrote: ‘Great actor, director and charmer. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.’
Within minutes of last night’s announcement, she and Vickery were inundated with messages of support.
Former BBC Breakfast presenter Steph McGovern led a string of TV personalities who replied to Miss
Britton. ‘ Sending lots of love xxx,’ she said. BBC newsreader Joanna Gosling sent a kiss emoji and Newsround presenter Ricky Boleto said: ‘Sending you both lots of love.’
Miss Britton’s first job was for Westward Television in 1979. She went on to front several news and current affairs programmes.
She began an affair with Mr Jones while he was still married. She broke off their affair after a year but he turned up on her doorstep two days later, having left his wife. They married in 1988 but separated ten years later.
Meanwhile, Miss Britton had joined This Morning, first as guest presenter in 1993 before becoming a full-time host six years later, alongside John Leslie and later Phillip Schofield. But it has not always been an easy ride in the spotlight.
Miss Britton has spoken openly about her mental health issues and depression in the past and has said that she felt lonely and isolated when she became a mother.
She also made headlines in 2008 after an impressive five stone weight loss was revealed to be the result of a gastric band operation and not, as she had implied, solely down to healthy eating and exercise.
In 2012 she showed off her figure as a contestant in Strictly Come Dancing,
‘Thank you for your kindness’ ‘We’ll always be best friends’