Fern Britton Recounts Traumatic ‘Shredding’ Incident on This Morning

Television presenter Fern Britton has revealed a deeply distressing experience during her tenure on the ITV daytime show This Morning, claiming an editor once locked her in an office to berate her, leaving her in tears.

Britton, 68, described the incident as feeling “decimated” and recalled being told she needed to reapply her makeup before leaving the office, to conceal the fact she had been crying.

Reflecting on her departure from the program after a decade, Britton stated she left because she was “unhappy” and found her time on the show “very, very difficult.” She recounted a specific episode that has remained with her.

On-Air Criticism and Office Confrontation

According to Britton, following a live broadcast, she was taken to an office where she was “shredded” by two editors. She explained that she sat “sobbing” while one of the editors inquired about her makeup bag and instructed her to apply more before her departure.

During an interview on James O’Brien’s Full Disclosure podcast, O’Brien asked if the instruction to reapply makeup was to prevent others from noticing she had been crying.

When questioned about her exit from This Morning after 10 years, Britton stated, “I left This Morning because I was very unhappy there. The editor hated me, Frank hated me. It was made very, very difficult for me.”

She vividly described one particular morning: “There was one morning when the editor walked in at 8 o’clock sort of halfway through the morning and he came through the forest of cameras and he said to me, you are terrible, you are awful, now sit down there and do another hour.”

Britton continued, “After the show he called me into his office and locked it, he was in there with his deputy editor and they just shredded me and I cried and cried and cried.”

She added, “It was a Friday and he said you’re not leaving this office until you put some make-up on. I said ‘well it’s in the bag, on the desk’ and he went and he got my bag and I had to put my make-up on in front of him.”

Britton concluded the recollection by saying, “What he did was really bad, it really decimated me.”

Past Co-host Relationship and Later Reconciliation

Leading up to Britton’s departure from This Morning in 2009, there was a widely reported falling out with her co-host Phillip Schofield. The two have not spoken publicly since, with Schofield noting in his autobiography that their relationship was “beyond repair.” At the time, it was suggested that Britton felt “undervalued by ITV” and was perceived as “living in Phil’s shadow.”

However, in more recent years, Britton has spoken with fondness about her time co-hosting This Morning with Schofield. Speaking to Saga magazine, she commented, “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.” She also acknowledged Schofield’s deep care for his job and public perception, stating, “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.”

In 2022, Britton publicly ended their long-running feud by sending a congratulatory video message to Schofield for his 40th anniversary in television.

Britton’s Post-This Morning Career and Personal Life

Following her exit from This Morning, Fern Britton has built a successful career as an author, publishing several Sunday Times best-selling novels. She has also appeared in various television projects, including the BBC series Fern Britton Meets, The Big Allotment Challenge, and The Watercolour Challenge. In 2024, she participated in Celebrity Big Brother.

In 2020, Britton announced her “unexpected” split from her husband of 20 years, fellow television personality and chef Phil Vickery. Speaking in 2023, she described entering a “new phase of her life,” embracing being single and her children being adults, stating, “It’s as if this whole other world has opened up. I never thought this would happen; I didn’t expect to be 65 and single and really relaxed.”

In 2022, reports emerged of Phil Vickery being seen with Lorraine Stanton, who was described as Britton’s former best friend, leaving Britton reportedly “heartbroken and dumbstruck.” At the time, sources indicated that Britton made a public statement to manage the situation and “stop it getting out of control” due to embarrassment.

More recently, Britton has focused on her physical and mental well-being. She explained, “About a year or so ago, I realised that I wasn’t looking after myself – physically or mentally. 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 has embraced a new routine, incorporating yoga and the Couch to 5k running app, despite managing arthritis in her knee and an upcoming shoulder replacement. Britton emphasized her motivation: “I’m very slow – I’ve got arthritis in one of my knees and I’m about to have a shoulder replacement – but I just thought, ‘It’s only three miles, come on!’ I’m not intending to run a long marathon or beat anybody, but I do enjoy the fitness side of it.”