Fern Britton on looking for love and her This Morning return
She is back in great shape but Fern Britton is not hankering for a TV comeback or a man in her life. Instead she wants to continue to write bestselling books from her Cornwall home. At 67, it is now five years since her 20-year marriage to TV chef Phil Vickery ended, but Fern insists: '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.'
'I'm feeling pretty good [but] it would be foolish to say I feel spot on 100% of the time. Cats are great companions but there are days when I'm actually quite lonely because sitting, writing on your own is lonely, but it's good to admit it.'
Fern is speaking to Woman&Home magazine to promote her 11th novel, A Cornish Legacy, which centres around Wilderhoo, a fictional 1,000-year-old Cornish house that has gone to rack and ruin.
Sub consciously at least it must be slightly autobiographical as the main character was very successful in London and whose life has absolutely fallen apart. She comes down to Cornwall to take on this house and the house and the woman repair themselves together.
On her own recent health improvements and weight loss, Fern says: 'People often wonder when you lose lots of weight whether you've done it naturally. And I can look at you and say, 'Yes, I have.' I had my shoulder replacement 18 months ago, and two-and-a-half years ago, when I saw the surgeon, he said, 'I'm going to totally replace your shoulder, I'll see you in a year.' 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.
"As a child, I just couldn't stop eating sugar, so [I ended up with a] big sugar addiction. I never had the button that said, 'Stop eating, you've had enough.' Curiously, having three sensible meals a day – which everyone has told me [to do] for the last 60 years – actually worked!'
The only thing failing her in terms of her health is not so visible when it comes to her youthful appearance. 'I'm getting more deaf. I first got hearing aids about 10 years ago [but] I just couldn't deal with it, then a year ago I thought, 'I'll try again.' I have to keep persevering and I'm wearing them today, but they drive me mad. I can't hear anybody any clearer because I can hear all the clatter in the room louder as well.
"Taking them out is lovely, but I also know that [without them], I miss out on a lot of things and I mishear everything. I try to lip-read and that's very frustrating.'
Fern's slim look makes her perfect for also heading back to the small screen and more TV work in the coming years if she headed back to London. She returned to This Morning last year for a series of shorts about the British Isles. And then there is also her own ITV show Fern Britton: Inside the Vet's.
But it seems novel writing is what she wants to continue spending the majority of her time doing in 2025 in Cornwall. On This Morning she said of the films: 'They were fun but, no, I won't be going back to do This Morning. Never go back, that's my motto – for anything. Never look back, never go back.
'I don't honestly watch it. When you've been in that wonderful place, then you think, 'No, it's going to change,' and I don't want to.' She adds: 'My forefront is now being a writer and it's taken me a long time to accept that. Gosh, yes, I can say I'm an author now!'
* A Cornish Legacy by Fern Britton is out on June 5. The July issue of woman&home is on sale May 29.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
6 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
A fictional UK train route that featured in a TV show could soon become real
Plus, three scenic train journeys you can take in the UK TRACK ON A fictional UK train route that featured in a TV show could soon become real Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) BACK in the 1970s and 80, a TV series called 'End of Part One' featured a tube station that existed in Lewisham, alongside tube stops in Ladywell, Catford and one called the 'Edge of the World.' There has never been a tube station in Lewisham - the train station only serves the DLR and National Rail, but fiction could soon become reality with Bakerloo Line extension plans stretching to the London borough. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 The proposed extension of the Bakerloo line would go to Lewisham Credit: TFL Win one of 8 incredible holidays to the Caribbean, Mexico and Greece by voting in The Sun's Travel Awards - enter to win here An extension of London's Bakerloo Line has been considered since 2014, but a lack of government funding has prevented it from taking place. But now th extension could actually happen thanks to a newly submitted planning permission, alongside several other new tube stations in South London. Burgess Park and Old Kent Road would be built from scratch, and New Cross Gate and Lewisham - which both currently don't have a Underground station - would each have one added. While the project has not fully been given the go ahead, the route has been planned, and it was safeguarded by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander in February. According to Time Out, if the extension went ahead, it would allow 27 trains to run per hour on the line, which would mean a train every two minutes. The project is costly and a lack of funding is preventing it from getting under way, but TfL and the Mayor of London are in discussions about how to fund it. According to TfL, the plans include extending the Bakerloo Line from Elephant & Castle to Lewisham and building a new Bakerloo line ticket hall at Elephant & Castle. The route would then run from Elephant & Castle along the Old Kent Road and at New Cross Gate. If the plans were approved, TfL has projected that work could begin in 2030 and be complete by 2040. European sleeper train with private cabins 3 This would mean building an underground station in Lewisham Credit: Alamy The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway originally opened in 1906 but was quickly renamed after a journalist nicknamed it the Bakerloo Line and the name stuck. There have already been a number of extensions to the line over the decades, including at Elephant & Castle, Queen's Park and Watford Junction. Today, the line is often known for its 1972 Mark Two tube trains that feature brown and grey retro interiors. If the extension was built, then it could connect Lewisham to central London in 15 minutes. Three scenic train journeys you can take in the UK Cornish Coast - One trip that rail enthusiasts seem to love is along a stretch of the Cornish coast and takes just 10 minutes to complete. The route from St Erth to St Ives only stops at Carbis Bay en route to its final destination, but the views out the window for the whole journey are pretty spectacular. Another highlight of the journey is that St Ives station is situated right next to Porthminster beach, meaning the sand and sea can be accessed almost immediately. Meanwhile, the station is less than a ten minute walk into town, where the harbour, shops, galleries and pubs can be explored. Durham to Edinburgh - Another train route that people in the UK love is the East Coast train line between Durham and Edinburgh, with coastal views and city landscapes among the sights that can be seen out the window. Newcastle, Berwick, Lindisfarne and Durham Cathedral are all among the highlights on that route. Scotland's West Highland Line - While Scotland is home to plenty of famous landmarks and top attractions, it also has one of the most breathtaking train routes in the world. Scotland's West Highland Line has previously been dubbed the best rail journey in the world by Wanderlust - and it's easy to see why. The journey from Glasgow to Fort William is one of my favourite train routes - and I've interrailed through mainland Europe. With mountain landscapes, serene lochs, wistful moors, and wildlife all visible through the train window, it's certainly a route all holidaymakers should consider doing at least once. Next month, there is also the chance to hop onboard a London Underground vintage train on a secret railway line that isn't on tube maps. Plus, this is the incredible train journey that'll 'ruin every other railway trip you take'.
Telegraph
6 hours ago
- Telegraph
Midlife style tips from Norfolk's most fashionable resident
'A lot of people probably think that my life is nice and neat and tidy and fragrant,' Paula Sutton, the style and home influencer turned cosy crime author, says from a sofa in her garden office in Norfolk. 'But I'm a whirlwind of chaos at times.' That may be so – but in Sutton's world, even the chaos is picturesque. Consider her outfit: a blue puff-sleeved Doen dress worn with pearl earrings, slicked-back hair and red lipstick. And then the items around her: a tower of frill-edged, blue-and-white striped cushions, piles of antique crockery (with more plates on the walls), baskets galore, stacks of interior books, a bowl of apples – a thousand and one ' cottagecore ' elements ready to be assembled into the kind of scene that makes people contemplate moving to the countryside. As the tastemaker behind Hill House Vintage on Instagram (@hillhousevintage), Sutton, 55, has for years inspired some 610,000 followers with laying an outdoor table, cutting tulips from her garden and other such scenes of rural bliss. Her life didn't always look this idyllic. Born in Croydon, Sutton recalls being 'mesmerised' as she flicked through the first issue of Elle UK with friends on the upper deck of a London bus. 'I thought, 'I would love to be part of this world.'' She ended up working at Elle as bookings director for 'some of the best years of my life'. Meanwhile she and her husband, a classic car dealer, spent weekends with her in-laws in Norfolk. Once they had children, she says: 'I craved that peace and quiet and feeling of space.' They moved to a Georgian house in West Norfolk in 2010; she started a blog documenting her renovation and DIY vintage furniture upcycling shortly after. The first post was a picture of the house 'looking like a doll house in the middle of its garden'. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Paula Sutton (@hillhousevintage) The blog gathered momentum gradually before 'going crazy' during the Covid-19 lockdown. It helped that her imagery encapsulated the newly aspirational mode of country living that came to be known as 'cottagecore'. Never mind that the woman the press dubbed 'the queen of cottagecore' hadn't heard of the trend. 'It was news to me,' she says. 'I've always been inspired by the past and loved vintage style and pretty dresses. But it wasn't contrived – I was trying to pursue happiness, doing the things that brought me joy, and it all came across as very pastoral and bucolic.' Her style 'definitely evolved' when she moved to Norfolk. When she was younger and working at Elle, she followed runway trends. 'Now I'm not swayed by the shows or trends. I have a distinctive sort of vintage-inspired style that I know suits me and that I'm comfortable with. If something happens to be in fashion and aligns with my style, then that's fantastic.' Sutton estimates that 40 per cent of her wardrobe consists of true vintage, 20 per cent is things she's had for years ('it's my own vintage') and the remaining 40 per cent is new. 'But it will always have an essence of classic style.' Her dream wardrobe would be everything Grace Kelly wears in High Society. Some of her favourite pieces right now are her Ralph Lauren jodhpurs ('They remind me of Grace Kelly in the 1950s'), a Thierry Coulson striped empire line dress ('It speaks of history to me') and a trove of vintage suits from the 1940s that she adores wearing in the autumn. Summer is all about Doen and O Pioneers dresses. Last year she added another string to her bow, as a fiction author. Her debut, now in paperback, The Potting Shed Murder, is a cosy mystery set in a fictional village in (where else?) rural Norfolk. Heroine Daphne Brewster 'is very much me, but far more adventurous and brave and nosy'. But not, one imagines, with such a dreamy wardrobe. Five personal style rules Know the shapes that suit you. I always look at the silhouette of a dress and can tell if it will work. Be kind to your feet! For me that means never wearing a pair of shoes over 7cm in the heel. Dress to make yourself happy. That's my number-one rule. I don't dress to be sexy or with regard to what anyone else thinks. I 100 per cent dress for me. Match your shoes to your bag in some way. I like that put-together, matchy-matchy look. When in doubt, opt for a red lip. It's not just to look glamorous. It's also a confidence booster.
The Guardian
10 hours ago
- The Guardian
My 11-year-old son and I like a lot of the same films and songs. Am I doing parenthood wrong?
Some things you know without being told. Kids reached peak summer holiday boredom last week – on 12 August to be precise – according to a survey. If you're a parent you may have laughed hollowly there, in the unlikely event you still have enough energy. Exhausted and bankrupt after standing in endless queues for more wholesome activities, we've started Cinema Club, which is totally different from just watching a film on the sofa, in ways I'll explain, er, later. I was excited to share a particular childhood favourite of mine with my son, who turned 11 a fortnight ago, although this can be a risky business (ooh, is he too young to watch Risky Business?). Showing your offspring movies you remember fondly but haven't seen in decades is often disappointing. Sometimes, they are so slow to get going that everyone loses interest, and many have aged astonishingly badly and are now problematic, to put it lightly. Luckily, the 1988 body-swap comedy Big was a hit straight away – fast paced, funny and poignant. The giant piano dance routine completely holds up. The only issue? A sex scene I'd forgotten. The protagonist has an adult form but is really 13 years old, and that wasn't even why it was awful. I recall the excruciating experience of enduring these kind of TV moments with my mum and dad all too well. How two onscreen minutes could feel as if they lasted roughly nine millennia. Cheeks burning, buttocks clenched, dying inside. I'd never considered if it was as embarrassing for them as for me, which I now presume it must have been because boy-oh-boy did that part of Big go on for ever. Oddly, it felt exactly the same as it did back then, despite being on the other side, the grownup. Being a parent is different now; 40 is the new 30, so we feel younger than our parents did at this age. The only involvement my parents had in the music I was listening to was yelling, 'Turn it down!' up the stairs. However, my son and I share a love of the pop star Lola Young. I'm not sure if that's OK, for a few reasons. There are clean mixes of her songs, but you have to ask Spotify, or whatever you're using, for them specifically, or you're treated to lyrics that make you long for the comparatively tame lovemaking of Tom Hanks. But worse than the awkward conversations some of the spicy versions have provoked is the uncomfortable feeling all is not right with the world. The title of Young's second album, released last year, is a bit too on the nose: This Wasn't Meant For You Anyway. Maybe she has a point. I'm not sure if my kid and I are allowed to like the same things, if I should be disapproving rather than singing along. Have the times a-changed or am I doing parenthood wrong? The traditional role of the parent here is to be terminally uncool and not get it. To suspect that the Beatles are bad influences because of their hairstyles, to get outraged over Madonna's antics. Not to be vogueing around the kitchen in a conical bra, like the 'I'm not a regular mom, I'm a cool mom' from Mean Girls. It isn't just Young, I am also a huge fan of YouTuber Ryan Trahan. My kid and I learned the viral Charli xcx Apple dance together (not to post on social media, I hasten to add). My husband is a dab hand at Mario Kart on the Nintendo Switch and they race regularly. These are not pastimes we grin and bear, like watching Frozen again, or the lengthy train obsession that meant we spent most weekends standing on cold platforms, waving our blue hands at drivers as they passed by. This is all of us genuinely enjoying what we're doing, nobody faking it or making any kind of sacrifice. It goes the other way too – our boy's first proper late nights were due to the wait for the next episode of The Traitors being unbearable. He accidentally overheard a podcast I love, Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert, and now listens every week with me on purpose. And recently he joined us down a Sean Hayes wormhole that culminated in a Will & Grace marathon in which he demonstrated admirable stamina. Maybe the secret is not to question it. Perhaps this is actually the sweet spot. The teenage years are fast approaching, in about five minutes, us thinking that anything is good will probably be the kiss of death. I can only pray, when that dark day comes, I get custody of Lola Young.
