Fern Britton talks This Morning, weight loss and a new unexpected joy

Fern Britton made her name in the 1980s presenting TV’s This Morning, Ready Steady Cook and Breakfast Time. But now she’s best-known as the highly-acclaimed Sunday Times bestselling author of ten novels.

Her latest book, A Cornish Legacy, is out now and she spoke to Saga Magazine about This Morning, weight loss and new unexpected joys.

The full interview appears in July’s Saga Magazine available on subscription and in selected retailers.

How she’s changed as she’s gotten older

I always thought everything would be all right. Although that’s not changed, I think I understand myself a bit better now, and can look back and see that I foolishly handed power to partners, bosses and colleagues, because I’m very easy-going and I never used to see around the corner and think, “Oh hang on, they’re actually manipulating me.”

You are fantastically slim these days. What’s your weight-loss secret?

Having shoulder replacement surgery 18 months ago was a turning point. I was so grateful after years of pain, but there was a feeling of “this is a real old person’s operation”. I realised if I didn’t want to be someone the kids have to worry about then I needed to get fit and stay fit.

So I started running and picking up weights. I’m feeling good about it – I love the fact that if I run up the stairs, I can feel the muscles in my thighs – and I’m going to keep doing it.

Being open to dating

I’m not averse to it but they’d have to be bloody spectacular.

They have to make me laugh, they must be kind, and they must be honest.

Discovering newfound happiness

I’ve started regularly going to church, and honestly just helping make the coffees and the sandwiches in the church hall gives me the nicest feeling I’ve had for a long time.

I would urge people not to be scared to do something, however small – find a charity to volunteer for, go and read in a school. People talk about this all the time, but it actually is amazing what it gives you back.

On Phillip Schofield stepping down from This Morning

It brought up a lot of mixed emotions [Fern co-presented This Morning with Phil for seven years].

The years we worked together were mostly great fun and we were a very good partnership, which I can remember with fondness.

I knew how much he loved his job and cared deeply for his public perception. It must have been a terribly difficult time for him and his family.

Exploring relationships in her new novel

I’ve got very interested in how complicated it is for young people dating. Grace has a lovely partner, but Winnie is single, and while she’s a very attractive girl, it all seems so difficult now.

In the Seventies, a man would just come and say, “Oh, do you want to go out?” and you’d reply, “Yes, thank you”. Now it seems they’re all giving each other therapy about someone they’ve been seeing for ten days.

I was intrigued about how these relationships work and wanted to explore that a bit.