Fern Britton admits struggle not to 'bad-mouth' Phil Vickery to their daughter
Fern Britton has admitted it's not easy keeping quiet about her ex Phil Vickery when she's with the couple's daughter, Winnie. The former This Morning host, 67, called it quits with the celebrity chef, 64, in 2020 after two decades together.
Fern has revealed that she and Phil no longer speak and admitted she finds it hard not to 'bad-mouth' her ex to their daughter, 23, as she lifted the lid on the family's dynamic. Explaining that Winnie "adores" her dad, she said: "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."
The veteran presenter made the candid comments in Yours magazine, where she claims Phil "stopped talking" to her six years ago.
In 2020, speaking to Good Morning Britain, heartbroken Fern revealed the personal struggles that led to their separation, as she explained: "My mum died and my father died and unfortunately Phil and I fell apart."
However, later speaking to Woman and Home magazine, she explained that the former couple's lives would always be intertwined, despite their differences, revealing: "We simply needed to follow our own paths. Over time we realised we weren't necessarily having the kind of life we once did. It seemed right to say 'thank you' and move on. But we do have a good friendship."
"Phil and I had the greatest fun together and we have the most beautiful daughter together, Winnie... so we will always be connected."
Fern has previously spoken about her own parents' relationship, explaining how she and her sister, scriptwriter, Cherry Britton, were always given "some convoluted stories" about why their father, Tony Britton, "wasn't here".
Tony and his first wife Ruth, Fern's mother, divorced when she was just four years. Writing in her autobiography The Older I Get How I Repowered My Life, the Celebrity Big Brother star explains how she discovered she had no memories of her father living with her.
She revealed by the time she was born in 1957, Tony had already left her mother to be with Eva Castle, who would become his second wife.
She wrote: "It transpired that during one visit of a few hours back to see her, he and my mum had temporarily rekindled their feelings and I was conceived.
"Did he go back to his new partner with a – possibly – guilty spring in his step? How did he manage to explain my eventual appearance to his future wife?"
After only finding the truth when she was aged 55, Fern admitted: "I was left with a strong feeling of 'why did nobody say?' Everyone knew,' adding that is had left her was lasting trust issues."
Fern split from her first husband, Clive, after more than a decade together and the birth of their three kids, twins Jack and Harry and daughter Grace. They called it quits officially in 2000, and later that year, she tied the knot with Phil.
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