Fern Britton has admitted she will walk out of Celebrity Big Brother if her former This Morning colleague Phillip Schofield joins the show last minute.

The presenter, 66, became a household name hosting the ITV Daytime show alongside Philip, 61, from 1999 to 2009, when she was replaced by Holly Willoughby, 43.

And chatting with fellow housemate Gary Goldsmith during Wednesday night’s episode, Fern was adamant that she wouldn’t want to be in the same house as Phillip.

Gary said: ‘It was rumoured that he was going to come in here.’

Fern added: ‘Oh well, that didn’t happen. Yet! Maybe he’s coming in as a surprise.’

 

Fern Britton, 66, has admitted she will walk out of Celebrity Big Brother if her former This Morning colleague Phillip Schofield, 61, joins the show last minute
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Fern Britton, 66, has admitted she will walk out of Celebrity Big Brother if her former This Morning colleague Phillip Schofield, 61, joins the show last minute

The presenter became a household name hosting the ITV Daytime show alongside Philip from 1999 to 2009, when she was replaced by Holly Willoughby, 43 (pictured in 2005)
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The presenter became a household name hosting the ITV Daytime show alongside Philip from 1999 to 2009, when she was replaced by Holly Willoughby, 43 (pictured in 2005)

Gary said: ‘Can you imagine?’

‘Well, yeah. I might have to leave at that point!’, she laughed.

The TV personality also declared the new This Morning hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard, who are replacing Phillip and Holly Willoughby on the show, will do a ‘great job’ at presenting.

Gary asked: ‘What do you think about the situation with This Morning at the moment?’

Fern said: ‘Genuinely I haven’t been there for 15 years. 15 years, can you believe that! I got off the train and it’s way over the horizon now, so I honestly don’t know.

‘I can’t say anything because anything I would say would be subversion. It was tricky at times, like an institution. It’s weirdly a programme like that [the royal family]. It rocks but then gets back together again.

‘And I think Ben and Cat are going to do a really good job, it’s a new era.’

‘I think it’s lost its personality by having a range of different hosts’, Gary said as Fern nodded.

And chatting with fellow housemate Gary Goldsmith during Wednesday night's episode, Fern was adamant that she wouldn't want to be in the same house as Phillip
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And chatting with fellow housemate Gary Goldsmith during Wednesday night’s episode, Fern was adamant that she wouldn’t want to be in the same house as Phillip

Gary said: 'It was rumoured that he was going to come in here.' Fern added: 'Oh well, that didn't happen. Yet! Maybe he's coming in as a surprise'
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Gary said: ‘It was rumoured that he was going to come in here.’ Fern added: ‘Oh well, that didn’t happen. Yet! Maybe he’s coming in as a surprise’

Gary said: 'Can you imagine?' 'Well, yeah. I might have to leave at that point!', she laughed.
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Gary said: ‘Can you imagine?’ ‘Well, yeah. I might have to leave at that point!’, she laughed.

The TV personality also declared the new This Morning hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard, who are replacing Phillip and Holly Willoughby on the show, will do a 'great job' at presenting
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The TV personality also declared the new This Morning hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard, who are replacing Phillip and Holly Willoughby on the show, will do a ‘great job’ at presenting

Fern reportedly blames Phil for her This Morning exit and isn't afraid and felt she was 'really hard done by when she left the show', according to OK! Magazine
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Fern reportedly blames Phil for her This Morning exit and isn’t afraid and felt she was ‘really hard done by when she left the show’, according to OK! Magazine

It was claimed at the time of Fern's This Morning exit she felt 'undervalued by ITV' and that she was 'living in Phil's shadow'
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It was claimed at the time of Fern’s This Morning exit she felt ‘undervalued by ITV’ and that she was ‘living in Phil’s shadow’

The presenter reportedly blames Phil for her This Morning exit and isn’t afraid to speak out in the CBB house.

‘She felt like she was really hard done by when she left This Morning and now she wants to tell her side of the story,’ a source told OK! Magazine before she entered the house.

‘She actually blames Philip Scofield for her losing her job and felt he had a lot to do with the fact she got pushed out for a younger model, she’s not afraid to speak out now and she’s not taking any prisoners. Viewers can certainly expect fireworks. She’s using it as an opportunity to relaunch her career.’

The insider added it is a good opportunity for Fern after becoming ‘unexpectedly single’ after her marriage with TV chef Phil Vickery, 62, broke down.

The married couple split in 2020 and in 2022, Phil was spotted kissing her former best friend Lorraine Stanton.

‘She feels she’s had a rough time recently – she’s openly spoken about her gastric band and also got divorced from husband of 20 years, Phil Vickery’, the source added.

A representative of Fern told MailOnline: ‘Fern has already said everything she wants to say about Philip Scofield and her departure from This Morning 15 years ago and won’t be commenting further.’

It was claimed at the time of Fern’s This Morning exit she felt ‘undervalued by ITV’ and that she was ‘living in Phil’s shadow’.

It was also reported she was being paid £250,000 a year less than Phil and that he was earning three times her salary when they were fronting Mr and Mrs together from 2008 to 2010.

It was also reported she was being paid £250,000 a year less than Phil and that he was earning three times her salary when they were fronting Mr and Mrs together from 2008 to 2010
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It was also reported she was being paid £250,000 a year less than Phil and that he was earning three times her salary when they were fronting Mr and Mrs together from 2008 to 2010

Fern is reportedly seeing Celebrity Big Brother as a career relaunch after her split from her husband Phil Vickery in 2020 after twenty years of marriage (pictured together in 2017)
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Fern is reportedly seeing Celebrity Big Brother as a career relaunch after her split from her husband Phil Vickery in 2020 after twenty years of marriage (pictured together in 2017)

Phil is said to have banked £45,000 an hour while Fern earned just £15,000.

However, Fern denied she left ITV because of her salary and upon her departure she mentioned the whole This Morning team rather than just Phillip.

Four years after her departure, Phillip admitted he and Fern no longer spoke.

Last year Fern confirmed while she had a ‘marvelous’ time working on This Morning, she hasn’t stayed in touch with Phillip.

She said: ‘We were involved in the show and mates at the time, but we don’t really [speak anymore].’