Former This Morning star Fern Britton says she tries not to ‘bad-mouth’ her ex for he sake of their daughter, as she revealed the brutal timing of him stopping speaking to her

Fern and her ex-husband Phil Vickery were married for over 20 years(Image: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images)

Fern Britton says her ex-husband Phil Vickery stopped talking to her after her mum died. The 67-year-old TV presenter and the This Morning chef were reported to have maintained a “basic” level of communication after they split in 2020, but Fern has now revealed she didn’t hear another word from her him since her mum Ruth died in 2018.

In an interview with Yours magazine, Fern admitted: “He hasn’t spoken to me for six years now. As soon as my mum died, he stopped talking to me.”

The Celebrity Big Brother 2024 contestant insists she tries “very hard” to not “bad-mouth” Phil for the sake of their 23-year-old daughter Winnie.

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.”

This Morning’s Fern and Phil were married for 20 years before shocking fans when they announced their break-up(Image: (Image: Getty))

Fern also divorced her first husband TV executive Clive Jones, which was finalised in 2000 following their split in 1998 after 10 years of marriage. The presenter – who has now quit the world of TV to write her own novels, says she’s channelled her heartbreak into her new career.

Fern – who has 31-year-old twin sons Jack and Harry, and a 27-year-old daughter called Grace with Clive – admitted: “Like many people, I’ve been through divorce so I have an understanding of it. And that made it easier to write about in the new book.”

The TV star said she became thankful for her children’s support after her mum Ruth and her dad, actor Tony Britton, died. She explained: “Mum was in her 90s but, no matter how old you are, you’re still a child to somebody.

“As soon as I heard, I went and told the girls; they were both living with me at that stage.

“‘I’m an orphan,’ I announced and they burst out laughing. “It was exactly the tonic I needed.”

Fern dropped from a size 22 to a size 12 and lost five stone after undergoing gastric band surgery in 2006, but her split from Phil after 20 years of marriage made her gain weight.

She is quoted by Bella magazine: “It took me about a year to realise that I put a lot of weight on. Looking back, I was in a very bad place and gradually I started to pull myself out of it.”

And Fern’s mission is to stay healthy for her children.

She said: “It is my duty to stay as healthy as I can for the sake of my children.

“I don’t want them to feel guilty about not seeing me or be worried about me.”