Like many people Fern Britton had a period during the covid lockdown she would like to forget.
But in the case of the much-loved TV presenter, it was the culmination of a tough, tough time for her. Her beloved mum Ruth passed away in 2018 and as she struggled to recover and cope with grief her dad died at the end of 2019. Then just three months before the first lockdown of 2020 she then released a statement announcing her split from chef husband Phil Vickery after 20 years. Looking back Fern says: “My mum died and a year later my father died and the next year my marriage died. I fell into this era of indolence I call it, where I just started just lying in bed later and later and later. And then really, what was the purpose of getting up and getting dressed or getting showered or cleaning my teeth because I will soon be back in bed.
“Why don’t I start smoking? Yes. Drinking. Yes, eating yes, the whole thing. And then it took me about a year to realise that I put a lot of weight on, that I was not breathing well.” Thankfully this low did not last and Fern can even see the funny side of some moments within it now.
She adds: “I had a very bad period of time. And although all those three things were kind of expected and worked through and it’s nonetheless tripped me up and I didn’t think enough about how I was feeling. The fags, I was so good at it! And I was 62, 63. I took to it like a duck to water! It punctuated the day, lets have a fag and then what time is it 4 O’clock? Let’s have a glass of wine.
“Looking back I was in a very bad place and gradually I started to pull myself out of it.” One evening in particular helped Fern, 67, stop smoking overnight when she overdid the cigarettes in a village hall in Cornwall. Driving home with her Niece and a friend she had to stop the car to be sick in the field after “overdoing the nicotine”.
Giggling she adds: “I was in the hedgerow retching so much that I farted, and all I could hear in the car was the girls saying ‘classy lady’ – so I haven’t touched one since.” Fern, who also credits regular sessions with her therapist, then managed to get back into exercise too which put her back on track. “I started doing a bit of running and kind of incrementally fixed myself over a couple of years.
“There was a lot of mental effort and reflection and some therapy and came out the other side feeling back to normal. And only three weeks ago I was out in Austria cycling with a group of friends I have cycled with for 20 years and running and lifting weights again.”
Fern speaking on stage at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, explains how she “repowered” her life in Cornwall which has prompted a new book out later this year. She was also in Celebrity Big Brother earlier this year.
Fern was on Celebrity Big Brother in March 2024 (
Image:
REX/Shutterstock for Big Brother)
Looking to the future, she says: “I’ve seen my therapist once a week, virtually every week of the year in the last ten years and she has transformed my thinking about myself and my life giving and much more relaxed and happy. Yesterday I was walking through the green here(in Cheltenham) and it was such a beautiful day. I really felt the joy of the day. That is good, I haven’t felt that for a little while, all these little things. And yeah I an really happy and contented. Life is Good and I’m looking forward to the next phase, whatever it is.”
Fern’s life has seen a huge overhaul since she became single, she has relocated to Cornwall and has gone from being a TV regular to more occasional appearances on screen combined with a career as an author. Years on from fronting Ready, Steady, Cook and This Morning, she now has 10 books now, with an 11th on the way, but Fern still refuses to call herself a writer as she has imposter’s syndrome. “I’m not very good at saying myself ‘Well done’. I’m gung ho but I am amazed when things happen.”
She says since turning 60 has allowed her mind set to change in some other ways though. “I think the wonderful thing is once you’re past 60, for sure, you really don’t care. And I’m not embarrassed by anything anymore. I don’t get in a state about things anymore. It’s just this is life, we are all ridiculous, life is ridiculous. It’s full of stupidities and its irritations and everything, but just go with the flow.”
She also thinks pensioners should not be afraid to admit and embrace their past: “Older people, we pretend that we’ve led model lives to our children and grandchildren, and I think it’s about time we remembered that actually we did flatten the grass with a lot of unsuitable people.
“We did get absolutely off our faces on cheap beer and cider and, yes, most of us did try a bit of drugs even if it’s just a quick spliff but we did it and there’s no point in pretending we were angels.” To this end her book is about recalling those younger days and using them for inspiration today.
She says: “When I was in my twenties I had lots of energy, lots of power and lots of fun. I’m going to reach back and pull that into this lifestyle and take It forward. And you can do that too.” Fern said since moving to Cornwall she had made “friends of all ages” and her two daughters Grace and Winnie live close by which allowed her to hear stories from their friends about “dreadful things” they have been up to.
“Yet if I say something a bit saucy they are like ‘I never want to hear you say that again’,” she says laughing. “But it’s great and they do come and ask advice about things and I love that.” Although she had moved to Cornwall when she hit some of her problems in 2020, it has also been the site of her ‘repowering’ and she speaks about her new home in the South East with huge love.
On the joy of the Cornish coastline she says: “There’s nothing better than walking down the beach when there’s a real storm blowing. Or if it’s a hot and a gorgeous day and the sky larks are singing there is something fresh in the air. There is something I find that is unimaginable untouchable and unthinkable.
“Somebody said to me recently, you know, the veil is very thin in Cornwall between what’s real and maybe what is beyond our realms. And there is something to do with that.
“Also the Cornish are extremely funny and they’re just great fun to be with. It’s all ‘Manana'[spanish for tomorrow], I’ll get that job done this year or next year. And it just seems so far away from London.
“Beautifully slow very undulated time and they appreciate good food and it doesn’t have to be expensive. Walking and the flora and fauna. It gives you time to stand and stare.”
