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.
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Britton, 67, presented the morning programme with Schofield for eight years before leaving in 2009.
Phillip Schofield and Fern Britton during a Prince's Trust reception at Highgrove (PA)
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.
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'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.
Fern Britton and Phillip Schofield in 2004 (Ian West/PA)
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.
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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.'
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The Sun
26 minutes ago
- The Sun
Emmerdale's Bear Wolf in dramatic new storyline as Lisa Riley reveals shock developments for the Dingles
EMMERDALE'S Bear Wolf will find himself in a dramatic new storyline, Lisa Riley has revealed. In recent episodes of the hit ITV show, Lisa's character Mandy Dingle and partner Paddy, played by Dominic Brunt, have been voicing their concerns about Paddy's dad, Bear. 4 4 4 The couple have tried to help him - from arranging a doctor's appointment to giving him an old motorbike to restore, but he simply puts his strange behaviour down to 'being a pain in the bum.' Now, after an incident at the garage that saw Bear getting very frustrated with the bike, and an altercation with Kammy Hadiq, Emmerdale fans have begun to question whether Bear has a secret health condition. Dropping some hints about the storyline, Lisa Riley, 48, spoke to The Sun and said: 'Whatever's going on with Bear, it'll bring Mandy and Paddy closer together. 'Next week, people are going to see Paddy and Mandy getting their new home and it's all very exciting. And as new homeowners, they want to take advantage of it because they love each other and can't keep their hands off each other. 'It's their passion pad. They like to call it Paddy Towers. But Paddy is also very aware about mental health issues, so what does that mean for Bear moving forward? 'Is he a grumpy old man? Is he suffering from mental health issues? Will he have something severe as we go on? Of course, it's going to go off.' The talented actress, who will celebrate a huge 30 years on the show next month, also spoke about the Dingles and serial killer John Sugden being part of the family. 'Mandy loves John. She's very flirty with him, and she thinks he's great for Aaron. Lisa Riley opens up on the grief of losing her mum 'She thinks that he'll look after Aaron, yeah, and obviously with the viewers, it's so hilarious, honestly. 'When I'm in Waitrose, people go, 'Mandy, Mandy, be careful of that John' and I'm going, 'yeah, OK,' but how do you say it in a non-patronising way? 'I know as a viewer, but obviously Mandy loves him and doesn't see anything wrong with him and has no idea. And if Mandy does find out in so many months to come, oh God help him. 'I mean, her brick would come out - she has a brick in her bag, and you'd see the crazy side of Mandy if she had any inkling that John had something to do with Nate's death.' Lisa added: 'She's the Queen of the family, and you don't cross the Queen.' Away from her life portraying Mandy Dingle on hit soap Emmerdale, Lisa has been supporting Sue Ryder with their latest campaign. Lisa was incredibly close to her mum Cath, but sadly lost her to cancer in 2012. Now, Lisa has joined forces with their Back for a Moment campaign, to help bereaved people get the support they need. And in doing so, the star chatted to The Sun about her mum, and how she sometimes finds herself hiding behind her character Mandy, to disguise the pain of losing her. But Lisa says it's her Emmerdale cast mates who get her through those tougher times. She said: 'On the tough days, I do think Mandy Dingle has been a great person to hide behind. I do hide behind the bravado. 'Because there are some days where you want to sort of roll over on your pillow and cry. But I am so grateful to do what I love, and I am very lucky. 'I am guilty of pressing the bravado button, but I have my wonderful co-stars around me, including Dom - who plays Paddy - and the incredible Bradley Johnson, who plays my son. 'We're all so in tune with each other, they've got my back and I've got theirs, and honestly we're so lucky we do, because sometimes I watch my scenes back and think 'if only people knew what was really going on in my head.'' But the star said she recognises that, for some people, it's hard to find others to turn to when losing someone, especially as 88% of bereaved people feel alone in their grief. Lisa continued: 'There are thousands of people who need to know that Sue Ryder is there, and that they don't have to be by themselves. 'My dad was a bit in denial when my mum died, and that is what the campaign is there for.' Sue Ryder offers a range of free grief support, including an online bereavement community and in-person Grief Kind Spaces. Search 'Grief Deserves Better' or visit this website 4
Telegraph
27 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The blind, autistic piano genius – who happens to be the Queen's nephew
Derek Paravicini cannot tell his right hand from his left or dress himself; he lives with two other people with severe learning difficulties who all receive round-the-clock care. The 45-year-old is totally blind and autistic after being born prematurely at 26 weeks and 1lb 8oz (less than 1kg). At the time, the chance of survival for children born that premature was just 55 per cent. But, sat behind the piano, he is a master of all he surveys. A world-renowned concert pianist, he has performed around the world and has a fanbase of 500,000 followers across his social media platforms. He has perfect pitch – the capacity to identify each musical note by ear – can play two pianos at once and has become known as the 'human iPod' for his ability to reproduce and riff on any piece of music he has ever heard. With regular visits to dementia care homes and schools – where he takes requests – his repertoire covers everything from Glenn Miller's 1937 hit Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree to video game theme tunes. Now, he is the subject of a short film, Key of Genius, which premiered in London on June 21 this year. It tells the story of his first encounter, in 1985, with Adam Ockelford, who was working at a Wimbledon school for blind children. The teacher was giving a girl named Kelly a piano lesson, when a five-year-old Paravicini, visiting with his parents, made his presence known. He let out a squeal, before shoving Ockelford in the back. Both remember the encounter to this day. 'And then I pushed Kelly off the stool and started to play Don't Cry for Me Argentina,' Paravicini recalls. As a young child, Ockelford tells me, Paravicini played 'in this very, what should I say, unorthodox way'. This involved assaulting the keys with knuckles, head and karate-style 'chops and elbows', having taught himself on a toy organ his nanny had brought down from the loft. In fact, when Ockelford asked to tutor him at home, his father said it was not possible. The piano he had moved on to had been wrecked. That was exactly 40 years ago, but Paravicini and Ockelford are still playing together. Ockelford is now professor of music at the University of Roehampton and founder and chair of The Amber Trust, which provides blind and partially sighted children with the opportunity to have music remake their lives, by funding lessons, instruments, software and travel. I meet the duo at Ockelford's south London home where they convene weekly for a session with another autistic student, 24-year-old Romy Smith. For Paravicini's party trick, I am asked to play four random notes on the piano. 'I can do that,' he exclaims, in his singsong voice, before instantly turning them into a jazzy piece he tells me is called 'the Etan Blues'. It is all a long way from his early days when he refused to allow Ockelford to touch his own piano. The teacher resorted to picking up and dropping Paravicini on the other side of the room, allowing Ockelford a few seconds of tinkling before the child prodigy barged him back out of the way. 'Then I think it dawned on you that this was quite a good game,' says the 66-year-old. 'And then you realised you could actually have a relationship that involved music rather than fists. The essence of the film is absolutely right, that it was just this eureka moment for Derek. He suddenly realised, here was his window on to the world, and other people.' Ockelford believes Paravicini's talents are so exceptional that there are 'maybe half a dozen in the world like him'. But such exceptionalism can be a burden. The 1988 Oscar-winning film Rain Man – which featured an autistic savant played by Dustin Hoffman – created a pervasive stereotype that equates neurodivergence with genius, something that many in the community have described as suffocating. Ockelford says: 'Derek's unusual, unlike Rain Man, in that he's autistic and also has severe learning difficulties. He's the first person with severe learning difficulties anywhere in the world, as far as I know, who's had a kind of a public international life. He's regarded as something of a hero amongst the autism community.' Forty per cent of children born blind go on to develop perfect pitch. Paravicini's autism also gave him an interest more in the 'qualities of sounds, rather than what they meant', as well as a hyper-focus, allowing him to spend hours every day practising the same thing. 'With Derek, you can't really separate ability and disability,' says Ockelford. 'They're different sides of the same coin.' 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I'm just so delighted that he's having such fun playing concerts and raising thousands of pounds for charity.' But Her Majesty has always taken a close interest in Paravicini's achievements. 'She's a good aunt, isn't she, Derek,' says Ockelford. The Queen is also president of The Amber Trust and, on taking up the role in 2012, said: 'I have followed the progress of their outstanding work with blind children for many years and I hope that my involvement will enable the charity and the children it supports to fulfil their ambitions in the coming years.' In 2023, the Queen invited Olivia Taylor – a blind seven-year-old who has been helped by the Trust and who sang as part of a choir in the King's Christmas broadcast – to tea at Windsor Castle. Earlier in the same year, she appeared close to tears after hearing Lucy Illingworth, the blind 13-year-old who won Channel 4's The Piano and another Amber alumna, at the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle. 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'He'd have been like so many other children that we've known over the years, who do get very frustrated and then sometimes aggressive.' She says it remains to this day 'a head scratcher' how, unlike a blind pianist such as Stevie Wonder – who always keeps his fingers on the keys – Paravicini can lift his high up in the air and then slam them down on exactly the right notes. 'I say, 'You're showing off, aren't you?' And he says, 'Yes'.' Libbet, who chaperones her 'immaculately mannered' brother around the globe, says she is 'of course really proud. But also so used to that it's Derek, and this is what Derek does'. Hollywood writer-director Daniel Persitz became aware of the story after his mother sent him a YouTube clip of Paravicini playing. Persitz – who is also a classically trained violinist with the Santa Monica Symphony – read Ockelford's memoir of their musical relationship (also titled in the Key of Genius) and 'fell in love with the story', which he says 'felt like an underdog sports movie in a way'. The film of their partnership was made after Persitz crowdfunded £25,000 and scoured the US for a blind boy to take the lead role. But eight-year-old Cannon Wood did not play the piano, leaving Ockelford having to attempt a six-week crash course over Zoom. British actors Gavin Stenhouse and Lauren Samuels play Ockelford and Mary Ann. Persitz's meetings with Paravicini shaped the sound design, which he wanted to reflect the savant's hyperawareness. 'He hears us speaking, he hears cars outside, he hears the hum of a motor over there and it's almost like a superpower,' says Persitz on a video call from his home in LA. The journey has been a long haul. In 2017, his script featured on the Black List, the prestigious annual rundown of the top-rated unproduced screenplays, based on a survey of Hollywood executives. The 12-minute short is intended as a stepping stone to a feature-length version, the script for which was worked on by David Seidler, Oscar-winning writer of The King's Speech, before his death last year. The film makes clear, and Ockelford is the first to admit, that the learning has always gone in two directions. Paravicini has taught him as much – about music and humanity – as he was ever able to impart to his student. 'I've got a PhD in applied musicology,' he says, 'but it's not nearly as challenging as figuring out a non-speaking little child who doesn't seem to relate to the world. The child may block you out for years.' (Paravicini, for instance, spent years treating words 'like music' that he enjoyed repeating, only beginning to 'grasp the full significance of language in his late teens'). Paravicini has also been a trailblazer for other gifted musicians. The Amber Trust was founded off the back of his work with Ockelford and through it Paravicini mentored and befriended Illingworth, and The Piano 's latest star, Chapman Shum, 14. Another of Paravicini's protégés, Romy, may be autistic and non-verbal but – playing a version of the 40-year-old 'copy game' – is conducting the entire room like a maestro. I leave the pair communicating to each other via two adjacent pianos, relishing a frenetic, improvised conversation through the keys – without a word needing to be spoken.
Scottish Sun
27 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Emmerdale's Bear Wolf in dramatic new storyline as Lisa Riley reveals shock developments for the Dingles
EMMERDALE'S Bear Wolf will find himself in a dramatic new storyline, Lisa Riley has revealed. In recent episodes of the hit ITV show, Lisa's character Mandy Dingle and partner Paddy, played by Dominic Brunt, have been voicing their concerns about Paddy's dad, Bear. 4 Emmerdale's Bear Wolf will find himself in a dramatic new storyline, Lisa Riley has revealed Credit: ITV 4 Fans have begun to question whether Bear has a secret health condition Credit: Shutterstock 4 Lisa celebrates 30 years on the soap next month Credit: Emmerdale/ITV The couple have tried to help him - from arranging a doctor's appointment to giving him an old motorbike to restore, but he simply puts his strange behaviour down to 'being a pain in the bum.' Now, after an incident at the garage that saw Bear getting very frustrated with the bike, and an altercation with Kammy Hadiq, Emmerdale fans have begun to question whether Bear has a secret health condition. Dropping some hints about the storyline, Lisa Riley, 48, spoke to The Sun and said: 'Whatever's going on with Bear, it'll bring Mandy and Paddy closer together. 'Next week, people are going to see Paddy and Mandy getting their new home and it's all very exciting. And as new homeowners, they want to take advantage of it because they love each other and can't keep their hands off each other. 'It's their passion pad. They like to call it Paddy Towers. But Paddy is also very aware about mental health issues, so what does that mean for Bear moving forward? 'Is he a grumpy old man? Is he suffering from mental health issues? Will he have something severe as we go on? Of course, it's going to go off.' The talented actress, who will celebrate a huge 30 years on the show next month, also spoke about the Dingles and serial killer John Sugden being part of the family. 'Mandy loves John. She's very flirty with him, and she thinks he's great for Aaron. Lisa Riley opens up on the grief of losing her mum 'She thinks that he'll look after Aaron, yeah, and obviously with the viewers, it's so hilarious, honestly. 'When I'm in Waitrose, people go, 'Mandy, Mandy, be careful of that John' and I'm going, 'yeah, OK,' but how do you say it in a non-patronising way? 'I know as a viewer, but obviously Mandy loves him and doesn't see anything wrong with him and has no idea. And if Mandy does find out in so many months to come, oh God help him. 'I mean, her brick would come out - she has a brick in her bag, and you'd see the crazy side of Mandy if she had any inkling that John had something to do with Nate's death.' Lisa added: 'She's the Queen of the family, and you don't cross the Queen.' Away from her life portraying Mandy Dingle on hit soap Emmerdale, Lisa has been supporting Sue Ryder with their latest campaign. Lisa was incredibly close to her mum Cath, but sadly lost her to cancer in 2012. Now, Lisa has joined forces with their Back for a Moment campaign, to help bereaved people get the support they need. And in doing so, the star chatted to The Sun about her mum, and how she sometimes finds herself hiding behind her character Mandy, to disguise the pain of losing her. But Lisa says it's her Emmerdale cast mates who get her through those tougher times. She said: 'On the tough days, I do think Mandy Dingle has been a great person to hide behind. I do hide behind the bravado. 'Because there are some days where you want to sort of roll over on your pillow and cry. But I am so grateful to do what I love, and I am very lucky. 'I am guilty of pressing the bravado button, but I have my wonderful co-stars around me, including Dom - who plays Paddy - and the incredible Bradley Johnson, who plays my son. 'We're all so in tune with each other, they've got my back and I've got theirs, and honestly we're so lucky we do, because sometimes I watch my scenes back and think 'if only people knew what was really going on in my head.'' But the star said she recognises that, for some people, it's hard to find others to turn to when losing someone, especially as 88% of bereaved people feel alone in their grief. Lisa continued: 'There are thousands of people who need to know that Sue Ryder is there, and that they don't have to be by themselves. 'My dad was a bit in denial when my mum died, and that is what the campaign is there for.' Sue Ryder offers a range of free grief support, including an online bereavement community and in-person Grief Kind Spaces. Search 'Grief Deserves Better' or visit this website
