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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Entertainment
John Bett & Frances Kindon

Phil Schofield and Fern Britton's bitter feud - 'pay row, awards snub and memory loss'

Phillip Schofield recently announced his decision to QUIT This Morning as his feud with Holly Willoughby continues to mount after claims they're no longer speaking to each other off camera.

This Morning bosses are said to be in 'crisis talks', with insiders claiming that Holly and Phil's relationship has been 'tense for months'.

But this isn't the first time ill feelings have grown on set. There's famously no love lost between Phillip and his former co-host Fern Britton, who quit in 2009 less than halfway through her contract.

At the time, Fern told fans she was leaving to spend more time with her family, but a different version of events soon came to light.

Fern Britton and Phillip Schofield used to host This Morning together (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

It was later reported that she quit after finding out that Phil was being paid £250,000 more than her.

Friends of the TV star revealed that she felt "undervalued" by ITV bosses and was "living in Phil's shadow".

It had also been reported that he had earned three times her salary while they were presenting Mr & Mrs together - his £45,000 per hour to her £15,000.

But in 2016, Fern denied reports that the reason she left the show over pay.

She told Hello! magazine : "That certainly wasn't true, not least because I had no idea what Phillip had been paid."

Later that year, Fern did not turn up to the programme's 25th birthday celebrations.

It was suggested that she had been snubbed due to a feud with Phil, though Fern denied the rumours and claimed that she had been busy.

The pair were a hit, but there was tension behind the scenes (REX/Shutterstock)
Fern reportedly wasn't happy when she learned that Phil earned a lot more than her (ITV)

In 2013, Fern spoke to the Daily Mail about her relationship with Phil, and chose her words very carefully.

She said: "I always say Phillip and I had an indefinable chemistry which seemed to work well on-screen."

In a possible dig at his closeness to Holly Willoughby, she continued, "We 'got' each other. We enjoyed a laugh. And viewers seemed to warm to that. But, like Morecambe and Wise, we chose not to live in each other's pockets.

"We were a great professional partnership but we never went on holiday together.

"I never discussed with Phillip what he and I were earning. I was happy doing the show and happy with my salary."

That same month, Phil revealed the pair were no longer speaking, telling Heat magazine, "No, not really. We were involved in the show and mates at the time, but we don't really...

"I see Phil [Fern's husband, chef Phil Vickery] when he's in 'This Morning'... But we're not in touch now."

But things boiled over following the show's 30th anniversary in 2018, when the pair traded blows online.

Fern claimed she hadn't been invited to the show's BAFTA ceremony after the 30th anniversary.

Then the spat moved on to Twitter where the pair shared their thoughts in public - and Phil even made a cruel jibe.

Commenting on the awkward incident, Phil wrote, "Odd really, because she was invited and declined #memoryloss we'd have loved her to be there. A vital and much-loved part of the show."

But she said in an interview that she didn't mind (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Now the pair aren't talking, and they've traded blows online (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Then Fern retweeted the comment, sniping: "No. I had no invitation to decline."

But the plot thickened when Fern's agents admitted they'd made a mistake and had declined the invite on her behalf.

And now Fern has appeared to make a 'loaded' comment about her former co-star, teasing that she'd had the 'loveliest catch up' with Phil 's rival Eamonn Holmes.

She tweeted on Monday evening: "Unexpected calls from old mates are so lovely.

"Just had the loveliest catch up with @EamonnHolmes.

"I think we have known each other since the 80's when we were babies [crying laughing emoji]. Shooting the breeze [three red love heart emojis]."

Fans were quick to respond to the tweet, with one quipping: "Did you have a nice chat? Bet you’re both cackling over Phillip."

"Mmmm wonder what hot topic of conversation you giggled and snorted about," another speculated.

"Did you discuss things like Karma and how truth always finds a way out? I love deep and meaningful convos like that!" a third wrote.

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