Fern Britton, 67, says she's still not looking for love but does get 'lonely' five years on from Phil Vickery split
Fern Britton has admitted that while she does get 'lonely', she is still not looking for love five years on from her split from TV chef Phil Vickery.
The host, 67, made the revelation in a candid new interview where she opened up about her post-This Morning life in as a novelist in Cornwall.
The couple's 20-year marriage came to an end in 2020 following the deaths of Fern's parents, which reportedly caused the pair to realise that they had to 'follow their own paths'.
She told Woman & Home: 'I'm not looking for love - I'm still a bit too wary of losing my liberty.
'There's nobody to run something past but, on the other hand, I think back to running things past people and it never really worked out, so why don't I just make my own decision? Then I'm the only person who can go, 'I f***ed up there.'
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The couple's marriage came to an end in 2020 following the deaths of Fern's parents, which reportedly caused the her and Phil (pictured) to realise that they had to 'follow their own paths'
Ferne, who recently shed five stone, said that she is feeling good about life even without a partner.
However, she admitted that spending the majority of her time alone writing with her cats can get lonely.
The star is currently promoting her 11th novel, A Cornish Legacy, which a woman who has left a successful London career to start a new life in Cornwall.
The character, like Fern said of her marriage breakdown, is prompted to make the move when her life falls apart.
In the new interview, she also explained how she managed to lose so much weight, crediting the transformation to healthier habits.
She said: 'I thought, "I need to get my life back on track. I need to stop smoking, stop drinking, get eating under control and stop lying in bed feeling sorry for myself."
'So I started the Couch to 5k, took about 80% of the sugar out of my life and started to think about what I was eating, which I had never done before.'
Reflecting on her past habits, Ferne said she had a sugar addiction that stemmed from childhood, but now sticks to three 'sensible' meals a day.
But while Ferne is physically looking fantastic, she admitted that she does have her health troubles and is struggling with deafness.
She said she has been using hearing aids for the past 10 years, she but struggled to get comfortable with them until a year ago.
Even now, she prefers to not have them in because they cause her to hear all the 'clatter' in a room and not the people she is speaking to.
She said: 'Taking them out is lovely, but I also know that [without them], I miss out on a lot of things and I mishear everything.'
The star also said that her life motto is to never look back and stressed that she has no intentions of a return to This Morning and very much identifies as an author now.
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