This Morning was in celebratory mode on Wednesday as cast and crew of both past and present joined together to mark the show’s 30th birthday.
Among them was former presenter Fern Britton, who called into the programme via video link from Scotland to chat about her memories hosting from 1999 until 2009.
Things took a slightly unexpected turn, however, when Fern claimed she hadn’t been invited to the show’s 30th birthday celebrations at BAFTA on Monday night.
Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby were joined at the event by former This Morning stars including Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan to accept the special BAFTA Award recognising the show’s enduring success over the years.
But Fern claimed she wasn’t given an invite!
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She said during her interview with former co-host Phillip and her replacement Holly: “By the way, congratulations on BAFTA, that was absolutely wonderful and brilliant. I’d have loved to have been there but I didn’t get an invitation.”
When Phillip pointed out Fern would have been “on stage” in her touring production of musical Calendar Girls, she quickly replied: “I wasn’t on Monday night.”
Some viewers branded the exchange “awkward”…
After the show, Phillip took to Twitter to address what happened, after coming across a clip of the interview in a tweet that read: “THE SHADE IS REAL!”
He replied: “Odd really, because she was invited and declined #memoryloss we’d have loved her to be there. A vital and much loved part of the show.”
Odd really, because she was invited and declined #memoryloss we’d have loved her to be there. A vital and much loved part of the show 😊 https://t.co/SrYQgLtzIY
— Phillip Schofield (@Schofe) October 3, 2018
Fern, however, took to Twitter herself to say: “No. I had no invitation to decline.”
No. I had no invitation to decline . https://t.co/GY3s245msr
— FernBritton (@Fern_Britton) October 3, 2018
However, it then transpired what had REALLY happened!
It turns out Fern’s agency, Troika Talent, did receive the invite but because she was on her Calendar Girls tour, declined on her behalf assuming she wouldn’t be able to attend!
After the agency apologised on Twitter, Fern said: “And here is what happened! Thank goodness I was invited, even if I didn’t actually receive the invitation. See you next time @BAFTA xxxx.”
Phillip retweeted the message, seemingly drawing a line under the whole saga.
And here is what happened! Thank goodness I was invited, even if I didn’t actually receive the invitation. See you next time @BAFTA xxxx https://t.co/TIRE89k7f1
— FernBritton (@Fern_Britton) October 3, 2018
Fern previously spoke out to deny a ‘gender pay gap’ between her and Phillip had led to her exit from This Morning.
She told Hello! magazine in February she was not aware of how much Phil was paid.
“That certainly wasn’t true, not least because I had no idea what Phillip had been paid, I knew what I was being paid and it was more than fair,” she said.
“It is appalling that, if you are doing the same job as a man, you are paid less and I am absolutely all for equal pay but at the time, even if Phillip had been paid more than me, he was doing more programmes on television.
“It is wrong for someone else to be paid more than you are for the same job. But it’s terribly important to find out where your ‘enough’ is because everybody’s different and I was very happy with my ‘enough’.”
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Fern added to Express two years ago: “Phillip and I did five or six years together and he is an extraordinary force and there’s something between us. It was a great relationship and I really enjoyed it.”
Do you miss Fern on This Morning? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think!