Former This Morning host Fern Britton has claimed her ex-husband Phil Vickery hasn’t spoken to her in six years, ending contact in a difficult moment
Fern Britton has claimed that her ex-husband Phil Vickery ceased communication with her following the death of her mother. The 67-year-old television presenter and the This Morning chef were said to have kept a “basic” level of contact after their separation in 2020, but Fern disclosed that she hasn’t heard from him since her mother Ruth passed away in 2018.
In a chat with Yours magazine, Fern confessed: “He hasn’t spoken to me for six years now. As soon as my mum died, he stopped talking to me.”
The Celebrity Big Brother 2024 participant maintains that she makes a concerted effort not to speak ill of Phil for the sake of their 23-year-old daughter Winnie.
She stated: “Winnie adores him. I’m not going to bad-mouth him in front of her; at least, I try very hard not to. I was the child of divorced parents and my mum never bad-mouthed my father.”
Fern also ended her first marriage to TV executive Clive Jones, finalised in 2000 after a decade-long union which began in 1998. The presenter, who has since left the television industry to pen her own novels, admits she’s channelled her heartache into her new vocation, reports the Mirror.
Fern, who shares 31-year-old twin sons Jack and Harry, and a 27-year-old daughter named Grace with Clive, acknowledged: “Like many people, I’ve been through divorce so I have an understanding of it. And that made it easier to write about in the new book.”
The telly favourite opened up about the comfort she found in her children’s support following the death of her mum Ruth and her dad, actor Tony Britton. She shared: “Mum was in her 90s but, no matter how old you are, you’re still a child to somebody.”
She recalled the moment she broke the news to her daughters: “As soon as I heard, I went and told the girls; they were both living with me at that stage.”
She humorously recounted telling her daughters: “‘I’m an orphan,’ I announced and they burst out laughing. It was exactly the tonic I needed.”
Fern slimmed down from a size 22 to a size 12, shedding five stone after having gastric band surgery in 2006, but admitted that her weight crept back up after parting ways with Phil following two decades of marriage.
Bella magazine quotes her saying: “It took me about a year to realise that I put a lot of weight on. Looking back, I was in a very bad place and gradually I started to pull myself out of it.”
And Fern is determined to maintain her health for her kids’ sake. She emphasised: “It is my duty to stay as healthy as I can for the sake of my children.”
She expressed her desire not to be a burden: “I don’t want them to feel guilty about not seeing me or be worried about me.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
