Every woman on the planet has had a difficult sexual situation...

‘Well I wonder how long it will be before I’m having an affair with you because I do have a very big c**k’.

“I was about 24 and I went home to my mum but we didn’t even acknowledge what was going on. Of course, I refused to let anyone faze me.” While she stresses that most men are not like that, sexual harassment against women in the workplace is nothing new, Fern says.

“I think every woman on the planet has had a difficult sexual situation, where they thought, ‘Oh my God, this is not what I was signalling and now I’m in a mess. What do I do, do I close my eyes and get on with it, or make my excuses and leave?’

“For a lot of people, you can’t easily make your excuses and leave. I’ve had that happen too.

“It’s wonderful that it’s coming to light. The vast majority of men are not like that. The new generation of men understand that women aren’t just available to look pretty and just have sex with – and we are turning a corner.”

She believes long before the Harvey Weinstein furore hit, people were well aware of the sexual harassment issues in the showbiz world.

“I think we always knew, it’s just that sometimes you’re cornered.

“When you get cornered, you get bullied, you get blinded by somebody’s power, they frighten and intimidate and you have to be strong enough to say, ‘Well, stick your job’.”

Gender pay is a topic where she’s keen to set some records straight. She left ITV’s This Morning in 2009, amid reports that her decision was fuelled by the discovery that her co-host Phillip Schofield was earning more than she was.

“When I left This Morning, there was a story saying I left because I wasn’t being paid as much as Phillip, which is not the case, as far as I know,” she says. “I’ve grown up in a situation where you don’t ask people how much they are being paid, so it definitely wasn’t that.

“It was weird because that was a story that was put out to discredit me, to make it look like I was greedy, wanted more and so walked away. My answer is always, ‘Why would I walk away to go to nothing?’

“I also firmly believe that if the person who is doing the same job as you – male or female – is getting more than you, that is wrong,” she adds. “On the other hand, we have to be sensible and discover what our ‘enough’ is. I was very happy with my ‘enough’ on This Morning.”

Fern may have suffered divorce, depression and a near-death experience in her lifetime, but she has remained confident in her job.

“I’ve always had a sense of self-worth. I just wanted to get on with my own stuff,” she says.

Fern has been married to TV chef Phil Vickery for nearly 18 years (they have a daughter, Winnie, together, and she has three grown-up children from her first marriage). So, what’s the secret of her happy marriage?

“We don’t keep each other on a lead. I’m not the sort of wife who is constantly texting him asking him where he is and what’s happening.”

She may be 60, but exercise is a firm fixture in Fern’s life now, cycling tremendous distances for charity and keeping herself fit.

“Turning 60 was like waiting for a horrible dentist’s appointment. I was very nervous and it took a bit of thinking about, but then the day came and it was fine. Then I started thinking about the positives.

“I get free prescriptions, 10% off on Tuesdays in the Co-op, my Boots card and my rail card.

“I’m quite proud of those,” Fern continues with a grin. “Whenever I go to the station the man behind the booking desk always says, ‘Whose card is this? It can’t be yours!’ And I find myself saying to people, ‘I’m 60, you know!”’