Fern Britton remembers working with Phillip Schofield ‘with fondness’

Former This Morning presenter Fern Britton has said Phillip Schofield’s departure from the show sparked “a lot of mixed emotions”, and described their years working together as “mostly great fun”.

Schofield resigned from ITV in 2023 after admitting to an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a much younger male colleague on This Morning.

Britton, 67, presented the morning programme with Schofield for eight years before leaving in 2009.

In an interview with Saga Magazine, Britton, speaking about Schofield stepping down from This Morning, said: “It brought up a lot of mixed emotions. The years we worked together were mostly great fun and we were a very good partnership, which I can remember with fondness.

“I knew how much he loved his job and cared deeply for his public perception. It must have been a terribly difficult time for him and his family.”

Britton also spoke about learning not to let others take advantage of her easy-going nature.

“I think I understand myself a bit better now, and can look back and see that I foolishly handed power to partners, bosses and colleagues, because I’m very easy-going and I never used to see around the corner and think, ‘Oh hang on, they’re actually manipulating me’,” she said.

While Britton may be best known for her years on daytime television, she has also built a career as a novelist.

She has lived in Cornwall since splitting from TV chef Phil Vickery in 2020 after two decades of marriage.

In her latest book, A Cornish Legacy, she draws on her life to explore themes of divorce, inheritance and the emotional weight of old houses.

Talking about whether she would be open to finding new love, she told the magazine: “I’m not averse to it but they’d have to be bloody spectacular. They have to make me laugh, they must be kind, and they must be honest.”

Britton said she is now a regular at church, and talked about it giving her the “nicest feeling”.

She said: “It’s so important to feel useful. I’ve started regularly going to church, and honestly just helping make the coffees and the sandwiches in the church hall gives me the nicest feeling I’ve had for a long time.”

Published: 23/06/2025 by Radio NewsHub