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Fern Britton
Fern M. Philomena Britton (born 17 July 1957) is an English television presenter and author. After beginning her career as a continuity announcer and a newsreader, she went on to co-present Breakfast Time in the 1980s and hosted the cookery game show Ready Steady Cook between 1994 and 2000 on BBC One. Britton presented the ITV daytime programme This Morning from 1999 to 2009. She also co-presented the British Soap Awards between 2006 and 2008 and All Star Mr & Mrs between 2008 and 2010.
Following her departure from This Morning, she went on to present Fern Britton Meets... for the BBC between 2009 and 2017 and Fern for Channel 4 in 2011. She also presented The Big Allotment Challenge for the BBC between 2014 and 2015 and fronted a revival of Watercolour Challenge for Channel 5 in 2022. Britton is also an author, having published a number of bestselling novels and books varying from short stories to non-fiction, several of which have featured in The Sunday Times bestseller list. She also appeared as a contestant on the tenth series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2012, and was a housemate on the twenty-third series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2024.
Fern M. Philomena Britton was born on 17 July 1957 in Ealing, West London, to actor Tony Britton and his first wife, Ruth (née Hawkins). She has an older sister and a younger half-brother Jasper, an actor, from her father's second marriage. She attended Dr Challoner's High School in Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, and the Central School of Speech and Drama, where she trained in stage management.
After working with The Cambridge Theatre Company, Britton subsequently began her broadcasting career in March 1980 in Plymouth working for Westward Television, the then-incumbent ITV regional company, as a continuity announcer and newsreader on the weeknightly local bulletin Westward Diary. After Westward lost its franchise at the end of 1981, Britton moved to the local BBC headquarters as a presenter with Spotlight in the South West, before moving to BBC 1's Breakfast Time, where she became the BBC's youngest-ever national news presenter. She was also a stand-in co-presenter on News After Noon during this period.
Britton then worked for TVS in Southampton, co-hosting the South edition of the news programme Coast to Coast with Fred Dinenage, as well as Coast to Coast People, The Television Show, Magic Moments and, as presenter with Stefan Buczacki, of That's Gardening. She stayed until TVS's franchise ended in December 1992. In 1988, Britton took part in Cinderella, a pantomime in which she played the role of Dandini at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton. She was presenting Coast to Coast from the city at the time and her preparation for the part was filmed for the programme.
In January 1993, she joined London News Network's London Tonight, before moving in April 1993 to GMTV to present the post-9:00 am slot, Top of the Morning. Britton moved back to Carlton Television to present After Five in 1994. She also appeared in the first two series of The Brian Conley Show. From 1994, Britton presented the television cookery gameshow Ready Steady Cook, which she continued until 2000, however she returned to the show in an episode of the primetime celebrity edition as a celebrity contestant in 2001. Britton had guest presented This Morning since 1993, but from September 1999 she became a full-time host presenting the Friday edition with John Leslie. In 2002, she became the main host of the series along with John Leslie and, later, with Phillip Schofield.
In 2002, Britton was the subject of This Is Your Life when she was surprised by Michael Aspel at Wickham Hospital in Buckinghamshire. In 2006, Britton co-presented the reality television show Soapstar Superstar. On 31 May 2007, she hosted the Classical Brit Awards at the Royal Albert Hall and she also co-hosted The British Soap Awards from 2006 until 2008 with Phillip Schofield. Britton has appeared twice as a panellist on the BBC show, Have I Got News for You, and guest presented on 27 April 2007 and on 17 October 2008.
In 2007, Britton presented her own ITV Saturday night series called That's What I Call Television. In each show, she was joined by a celebrity co-host who selected their favourite TV moments from the 1980s and then reunited some of the original stars of selected shows. Julian Clary was her first co-host, followed by Matthew Kelly on the second show, and finally Bradley Walsh for the third. In December 2007, a Christmas edition was broadcast with co-host Ronnie Corbett, and a week later another was broadcast, this time with Desmond Lynam. Britton has featured in advertisements for several companies and causes, including appearances as herself in advertisements for several Ryvita products including Ryvita Minis, and in the 2007 What's it going to take? campaign for the charitable organisation Women's Aid.
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Fern Britton
Fern M. Philomena Britton (born 17 July 1957) is an English television presenter and author. After beginning her career as a continuity announcer and a newsreader, she went on to co-present Breakfast Time in the 1980s and hosted the cookery game show Ready Steady Cook between 1994 and 2000 on BBC One. Britton presented the ITV daytime programme This Morning from 1999 to 2009. She also co-presented the British Soap Awards between 2006 and 2008 and All Star Mr & Mrs between 2008 and 2010.
Following her departure from This Morning, she went on to present Fern Britton Meets... for the BBC between 2009 and 2017 and Fern for Channel 4 in 2011. She also presented The Big Allotment Challenge for the BBC between 2014 and 2015 and fronted a revival of Watercolour Challenge for Channel 5 in 2022. Britton is also an author, having published a number of bestselling novels and books varying from short stories to non-fiction, several of which have featured in The Sunday Times bestseller list. She also appeared as a contestant on the tenth series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2012, and was a housemate on the twenty-third series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2024.
Fern M. Philomena Britton was born on 17 July 1957 in Ealing, West London, to actor Tony Britton and his first wife, Ruth (née Hawkins). She has an older sister and a younger half-brother Jasper, an actor, from her father's second marriage. She attended Dr Challoner's High School in Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, and the Central School of Speech and Drama, where she trained in stage management.
After working with The Cambridge Theatre Company, Britton subsequently began her broadcasting career in March 1980 in Plymouth working for Westward Television, the then-incumbent ITV regional company, as a continuity announcer and newsreader on the weeknightly local bulletin Westward Diary. After Westward lost its franchise at the end of 1981, Britton moved to the local BBC headquarters as a presenter with Spotlight in the South West, before moving to BBC 1's Breakfast Time, where she became the BBC's youngest-ever national news presenter. She was also a stand-in co-presenter on News After Noon during this period.
Britton then worked for TVS in Southampton, co-hosting the South edition of the news programme Coast to Coast with Fred Dinenage, as well as Coast to Coast People, The Television Show, Magic Moments and, as presenter with Stefan Buczacki, of That's Gardening. She stayed until TVS's franchise ended in December 1992. In 1988, Britton took part in Cinderella, a pantomime in which she played the role of Dandini at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton. She was presenting Coast to Coast from the city at the time and her preparation for the part was filmed for the programme.
In January 1993, she joined London News Network's London Tonight, before moving in April 1993 to GMTV to present the post-9:00 am slot, Top of the Morning. Britton moved back to Carlton Television to present After Five in 1994. She also appeared in the first two series of The Brian Conley Show. From 1994, Britton presented the television cookery gameshow Ready Steady Cook, which she continued until 2000, however she returned to the show in an episode of the primetime celebrity edition as a celebrity contestant in 2001. Britton had guest presented This Morning since 1993, but from September 1999 she became a full-time host presenting the Friday edition with John Leslie. In 2002, she became the main host of the series along with John Leslie and, later, with Phillip Schofield.
In 2002, Britton was the subject of This Is Your Life when she was surprised by Michael Aspel at Wickham Hospital in Buckinghamshire. In 2006, Britton co-presented the reality television show Soapstar Superstar. On 31 May 2007, she hosted the Classical Brit Awards at the Royal Albert Hall and she also co-hosted The British Soap Awards from 2006 until 2008 with Phillip Schofield. Britton has appeared twice as a panellist on the BBC show, Have I Got News for You, and guest presented on 27 April 2007 and on 17 October 2008.
In 2007, Britton presented her own ITV Saturday night series called That's What I Call Television. In each show, she was joined by a celebrity co-host who selected their favourite TV moments from the 1980s and then reunited some of the original stars of selected shows. Julian Clary was her first co-host, followed by Matthew Kelly on the second show, and finally Bradley Walsh for the third. In December 2007, a Christmas edition was broadcast with co-host Ronnie Corbett, and a week later another was broadcast, this time with Desmond Lynam. Britton has featured in advertisements for several companies and causes, including appearances as herself in advertisements for several Ryvita products including Ryvita Minis, and in the 2007 What's it going to take? campaign for the charitable organisation Women's Aid.