FERN…
Fern Britton is quitting This Morning, apparently after learning co-host Phillip Schofield is taking home more money than she is.
Despite releasing a statement saying she is leaving after ten years to spend more time with her family, an ITV insider has said the real reason is that she is furious Phil is on more money than her.
If that is the case, then who can blame her?
How many people would happily stay in their job if they knew a colleague on the same level as them was getting paid a bigger chunk of cash?
And we aren’t talking about an extra £1,000 or so here – while Phil got around £45K an episode for ITV game show Mr and Mrs, Fern got just 15K.
This is a major difference considering they were doing exactly the same job.
But I reckon this is just an excuse. I think the writing was on the wall for Fern the moment she owned up about her secret gastric band operation.
After seemingly losing weight the non-celeb way, by eating healthily and doing some regular exercise, her fans were left disappointed after finding out she had had the stomach shrinking op.
And many felt that she had cheated at the weight loss - not great considering she was the face of dieters’ snacks Ryvita.
So maybe this move will be a good thing – for her and This Morning.
Some of This Morning’s viewers will have lost their respect for the presenter they thought was open and honest, and it wouldn’t surprise me if there are a few who stopped watching the show over the furore.
But once the hype about her quitting dies down, the questions will start about who will replace her.
And just as I feared, I have already heard former GMTV host Fiona Phillips mentioned.
I think I actually preferred Fern.
Written by Gemma
72Point Blog
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