CBB star Fern Britton’s biggest scandals from Phillip Schofield feud to gastric band controversy

LEGENDARY This Morning presenter Fern Britton, 66, made a grand return to our screens this week entering the star-studded Celebrity Big Brother house.

The best-selling author has had an extensive career, from presenting ITV’s This Morning from 1999 to 2009, to taking part in BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2012.

The CBB star has experienced many highs and lows, from having one of the biggest feuds in British TV history with former This Morning co-presenter Phillip Schofield, 61, to facing heartbreak and humiliation after she split from second hubby and celeb chef Phil Vickery, 47.

Here’s a look at the CBB legend’s biggest scandals that left viewers reeling.

Phillip Schofield Fallout

The daughter of iconic British actor Tony Britton, had a rumoured fallout with This Morning co-star Phillip. 

Their work relationship quickly soured towards the end of her departure from the hit ITV show and believed Phil may have had something to do with it.  

The West London born had been at the top of her game as presenter of the hugely popular daytime show, before being replaced with a younger presenter Holly Wiloughby, 43, after 10 years.

It has been reported that Fern felt slighted by Phillip, as he had been chosen to remain on the show as a presenter.

When Fern announced her departure, many noticed she thanked the entire team but did not mention Phillip’s name, leaving many to believe the fallout had led to her untimely exit from the show.

Shortly after, Fern told the MailOnline that, unlike Holly’s work relationship with Phillip, she chose a professional partnership above all.

She said: “We enjoyed a laugh, viewers seemed to warm to that. We chose not to live in each other’s pockets. We were a great professional partnership but we never went on holiday together.”

Many took this as a swipe at Holly and Phil, who were friends at the time, were often pictured in social settings after work as well as going on holiday together. 

Whether Fern will go into detail on their perceived feud is yet to be determined, but CBB viewers eagerly await potential conversations on the Philip feud.

Gastric Band-gate

Fern experienced a backlash stemming from her telling the public she had achieved her body transformation in 2006 through ‘lots of hard work’.

Fern went from a size 22 to 12, with many questioning whether working out had been the only factor in Fern's weight loss.

This led to an array of public speculation and think pieces on Fern's weight, with many referring the moment as Gastric band-gate.

In 2008, the Gastric band-gate saga came to an end as Fern revealed that her weight loss was down to her undergoing gastric band surgery back in 2006.

In 2020, the presenter spoke of the confession and its impact on her shock exit from This Morning, with TalkRADIO, telling the radio outlet: “It was all gastric band-gate. It ruffled features. I think perhaps I became a bit of a liability to ITV. I really don’t know.”

She continued: ‘ “But I know that the day I decided to leave - and I’m not going to get into this now - something happened that morning I decided to leave and I thought, “I’m done” and ITV went, “Thanks very much, goodbye.” ’

TV Show Axe 

In 2011, Fern’s teatime talk show titled Fern got axed by Channel 4. The new show had been hyped to take over late comedian Paul O’Grady hit chat show The Paul O’Grady Show, after he went to ITV.

Fern’s chat show only lasted 4 weeks. Channel 4’s chief creative officer Jay Hunt confirmed “The programme didn’t really cut through with viewers.”

In spite of Fern demonstrating her athletic flexibility on the show, once performing the splits on the Channel 4 show, it failed to pull in the same ratings as rival shows BBC’s The Weak Link and ITV’s Britain’s Best Dish.

Jealous Row and Love Rift

Fern found herself in the headlines in 2022 when she revealed the bizarre row that led to the collapse of her first marriage to TV exec Clive Jones.

It turns out the pair fell out over the results of a Mensa IQ test which led to ‘an immense rift’.

Well aware of her husband’s degree, Fern felt prompted to test her smarts and told the Walking The Dog with Emily Dean podcast about her secret plan.

She said: “I lied, I said I was going somewhere else, and it took a day to do this test. I passed- and quite well too.”

The joy didn’t last for long, as Fern reported that Clive was unhappy with her results. 

The presenter told the podcast: “He was furious so he did it because he’s got a huge brain. But he’s not a problem solver and he didn’t get it. So an immense rift opened.”

The couple were married from 1988 to 2000 and Clive is the father to her three of her four children: Jack, Harry and Grace. 

Shock Divorce and Betrayal 

After Fern’s divorce from Clive in 2000, she went on to marry TV Chef Phil  that same year. The two share a daughter Winnie together.

Fern and the former rugby player split in 2020 after 20 years together.

The betrayal that happened two short years after the split left jaws dropping.

In 2022, pictures of Phil kissing Fern’s best pal and hospitality worker Lorraine Stanton surfaced.

Since then, the couple have been pictured repeatedly engaging in lingering public kisses and holding overnight bags on the street.

Prior to the public betrayal, Fern spoke of her struggle to move on after the breakdown of her marriage to Phil.

The heart-wrenching ordeal had been the main topic of conversation among their friends, with a pal telling The Sun: “Phil and Lorraine kissing on the street like this will be heartbreaking for poor Fern and would for her be a betrayal by two of the people closest to her.”