Inside Phillip Schofield and Fern Britton’s fallout as ex This Morning hosts rally together amid Phil and Holly feud
EX-THIS Morning hosts Fern Britton and Eamonn Holmes raised eyebrows with a timely catch up this week.
Drama at This Morning continues to unfold – with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield now barely speaking off camera as their friendship hangs by a thread.
With calls from fans for Phil to quit the show, the scenario eerily echoes the one he was caught up in with Fern, 65, way back in 2009.
Fern sensationally quit the ITV show after seven years of hosting alongside Phil, 61.
At the time of her exit there were rumours of Fern being unhappy about Phil being paid more than her – something she swiftly denied.
Later, in his autobiography Life Is What You Make It, Phil detailed a “blazing” row he believes made her up mind.
He recalled being “stunned” when Fern accused him of “meddling” in the show as they clashed in a make up room.
Phil wrote: “I walked back into the makeup room and calmly said, ‘Please don’t do that to me again.’
“I think, for whatever reason, that was the point Fern decided she didn’t want to do This Morning any more.”
Then in 2018 viewers witnessed Fern and Phil’s frosty relationship when she appeared on the show to celebrate its 30th birthday.
She was appearing via video link and at one point was cut off. After returning Fern claimed she’d been missed out from the show’s recent Bafta celebrations.
Fern said: “Congrats on the Bafta.
“That was absolutely wonderful and brilliant. I would have loved to have been there but I didn’t get an invitation.”
Phil retorted that it was because Fern was performing on stage in Scotland at the time.
She hit back: “I wasn’t on Monday night, I would have come but I wasn’t invited.”
He later took to Twitter to have a dig at Fern’s “memory loss”.
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.”
Fern later replied: “No. I had no invitation to decline.”
It was confirmed Fern hadn’t received the invite after her agents assumed she would be too busy to attend.
Taking to Twitter last night, Fern revealed she’d been speaking to fellow former host Eamonn.
She wrote: “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].”
Eamonn has also made it clear in the past there’s no love lost between him and Phil.
Just this week he appeared to take a cryptic swipe at his former co-star.
After Fern revealed the call with Eamonn, one follower quipped: “Did you have a nice chat? Bet you’re both cackling over Phillip.”