Fern Britton and Phil Vickery announce shock split after 20 years of marriage
They were one of TV's golden couples
TV presenter Fern Britton and her chef husband Phil Vickery have announced that they're splitting up. The couple, who have been married for 20 years and share daughter Winnie together, took to Twitter last night (29th Jan) to post an almost identical statement announcing the split.
Fern wrote, 'After more than 20 happy years together, Phil and I have decided to go our separate ways. We will always share a great friendship and our lovely children . We would appreciate it if our privacy is respected at this time. Thankyou for your continued kindness and support. ❤️'
Phil wrote, 'After more than 20 years together Fern and I have decided to go our separate ways. We will always share a great friendship and our lovely children. We would appreciate it if our privacy is respected at this time. Thank you for you kindness and support P.'
Fans were devastated over the news, and replied to the tweets with messages of sadness but also support for the former couple. One wrote, 'Oh Fern so sad to hear this. You and Phil have thought about and talked about this and made the mutual decision to end your marriage. Hope you will all be OK. Good luck to you both and be happy all of you, big hugs. Making it public knowledge will stop people from speculating.'
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Fern and Phil met when both working on Ready Steady Cook in 1999, and they married a year later, welcoming daughter Winnie the following August. They also worked together for a short time on This Morning, as Fern hosted the show until 2009 and Phil joined as a chef in 2006, a position he still holds.