Television presenter Fern Britton has recounted a deeply distressing experience during her time on the ITV program *This Morning*, detailing an incident where she was allegedly locked in an office and berated by editors, leaving her in tears.
On-Air Criticism and Office Confrontation
Britton, 68, described one particular episode where, midway through a live show, an editor approached her and declared she was performing poorly, calling her “terrible” and “awful.” She was instructed to continue the broadcast for another hour.
Following the program, Britton claims she was summoned to an office where the editor and his deputy editor allegedly subjected her to a severe dressing-down. “They just shredded me and I cried and cried and cried,” she stated. The presenter recalled being told she could not leave the office until she reapplied her makeup, with one editor retrieving her makeup bag and watching as she did so.
When questioned about the reason for this demand, which was posed by interviewer James O’Brien on his *Full Disclosure* podcast, Britton implied it was to conceal the fact that she had been crying. She emphasized the profound negative impact of the encounter, saying it “really decimated me.”
Reasons for Departure from *This Morning*
Britton has previously stated that her decision to leave *This Morning* in 2009, after a decade with the show, was due to significant unhappiness. “I left *This Morning* because I was very unhappy there,” she explained. “The editor hated me. It was made very, very difficult for me.”
Reports at the time suggested she felt undervalued by ITV and overshadowed by her co-host, Phillip Schofield. The relationship between Britton and Schofield famously fractured, and they have not spoken for many years. Schofield’s autobiography indicated their relationship was “beyond repair.”
Despite past tensions, Britton has spoken with some fondness about her years co-hosting the program. In conversations with Saga magazine, she reflected on the partnership, stating, “The years we worked together were mostly great fun and we were a very good partnership, which I can remember with fondness.” She also acknowledged Schofield’s dedication to his work and public image, recognizing the difficulty of his own departure from the breakfast show.
In 2022, Britton publicly acknowledged Schofield’s 40th anniversary in television, signaling a potential end to their long-standing feud. Holly Willoughby, who succeeded Britton as a presenter on *This Morning*, had previously expressed feeling “hurt” by allegations made by Schofield.
Post-*This Morning* Career and Personal Life
Since departing *This Morning*, Britton has established a successful career as an author, with several Sunday Times bestselling novels to her name. She has also continued to appear in various television projects, including the BBC series *Fern Britton Meets*, *The Big Allotment Challenge*, and *The Watercolour Challenge*, as well as participating in *Celebrity Big Brother* in 2024.
In 2020, Britton announced her separation from her husband of 20 years, TV chef Phil Vickery. Speaking in 2023, she described entering a “new phase of her life,” feeling relaxed and open to new experiences as a single woman with adult children.
The presenter has also been candid about her efforts to prioritize her physical and mental well-being. She shared that a realization about not adequately looking after herself prompted a significant shift in her lifestyle. “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’,” she explained. This has led her to incorporate yoga and the Couch to 5k running app into her routine, despite managing arthritis and an upcoming shoulder replacement.
