Former This Morning presenter Fern Britton has opened up about the heartbreaking experience of saying goodbye to beloved members of her family, branding the situation ‘very difficult’
Fern Britton(Image: ITV)
Television presenter Fern Britton has revealed it was tough waving goodbye to her twins when they left for university.
The well-known broadcaster, recognised from shows such as This Morning and Ready Steady Cook, appeared on Kate Thornton’s White Wine Question Time podcast and spoke candidly about the emotional experience.
The best-selling author shared her thoughts after Kate mentioned at the beginning that her 18-year-old son was bound for university and that it was “a bit of a tug on the heartstrings”.
Fern replied: “It’s very difficult. Yes. One minute there’s six of you and then there’s only you.”
Fern is a mother to four grown-up children. She had Winnie, now 23, with former husband Phil Vickers, and Grace, 28, and twin sons Harry and Jack, both 31, with Clive Jones.
Fern acknowledged that while her farewells with her other children had been spread out over time, parting with twins Harry and Jack was a different matter entirely. She also offered Kate some guidance about what to expect with her own son on moving day, reports the Express.
Fern was speaking to Kate Thornton on a podcast(Image: Getty)
Fern explained: “Definitely. Very brutal. Just suddenly gone and didn’t want me to deliver them or anything really.
“So that was very hard, but it taught me some things like to accept that they are going to be tensions on the morning, because you’re all emotionally involved, they’re all emotionally involved and there’s going to be little spats like ‘I’ll take your bag! I can do it mother’ all the sort of stuff.”
This isn’t the first occasion Fern has discussed her children. In a candid conversation with Hello magazine several years ago, Fern revealed she wished to spend more time with her children, though acknowledged the distance between them made this challenging.
She said: “The boys are nearly 31 and they’re busy in their own lives, but they’re good guys. We live a long way from each other, but we speak a lot – they ask me how I am and that’s great. That’s all I need. I’d like to see them more, but that’s life.”
Fern Britton(Image: Getty)
Fern has also been open about the effects of divorce, and last year discussed what happens during the separation process.
Fern told the Telegraph: “Divorce is not a breeze. No matter how you hope it’s going to be easy and pain-free, inevitably it isn’t. It’s difficult and brings up a lot of unpleasant characteristics in everybody.
“Then, when it’s finally over, there’s a little bit of time where you have to just let the emotions subside. And then you can start looking back on how things were good and it was unfortunate that it just ran out of steam or whatever it was.”
Fern Britton is scheduled to feature in a new programme called Fern Britton: Inside The Vets, launching today (July 12) at 11.30am on ITV.
