Fern Britton was the cohost of ITV flagship show This Morning for 10 years making her a household name.
The 64-year-old left the daytime TV programme in 2009, saying at the time she wanted to 'explore other things' and spend time with her family. But it later emerged that Fern had moved on from the This Morning sofa because she felt she was 'treated poorly'.
Fern began her career on TVS on Coast to Coast in 1984 before hopping to Top of the Morning on GMTV in 1993. With other stints on shows like Ready Steady Cook, the she is still best known for her work on This Morning which began in 1999 when she became the prominent Friday host alongside John Leslie.
Her exit a decade later had been controversial at the time as Fern was only halfway through her £1.5 million contract with ITV. Friends close to the presenter claimed she felt "undervalued by ITV" and that she was "living in Phil's shadow".
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There were also claims she had found out she was being paid £250,000 a year less than her co-host, and reports Phil was earning three times Fern's salary when the they were presenting the celebrity quiz show Mr and Mrs together, the Mirror reported. It was claimed he picked up £45,000 an hour while Fern earned just £15,000. However, Fern firmly denied she made the decision to leave This Morning because of salaries.
Fern addressed her decision to leave This Morning earlier this year, saying she had stopped enjoying working on the show and was unhappy over the way she was being treated. On the Ray D'Arcy show, she said: "I began not to enjoy it so much and the morning I resigned, I didn't know I was going to resign.
"Something happened and I just thought, 'That's it really' and I walked away and resigned. I was treated pretty poorly, actually. And after a while I just thought, 'Sod it'. There was also a persistent rumour that I left because Phillip was being paid more than me and I always say to people, 'Why would I leave a show to go to nothing if I was worried about money?'"
It comes just months after Fern appeared to end her alleged feud with Phil. As part of his 40th work anniversary celebrations, ITV bosses asked Fern to take part in congratulating the father-of-two and she wasto happily oblige.
In what appeared to be a pre-recorded message, Fern told Phillip: "Fifty years is an incredible milestone and it's time for you to stop and look back and see all that you have achieved and be proud of it. So I'm wishing you a very happy future. Congratulations and keep going."
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