WHEN Fern Britton announced the end of her seemingly perfect 20-year marriage, she pledged to "always share a great friendship" with Phil Vickery.
Five years on, and relations have never been worse.
In the week the presenter suggested Phil, 64, had coldly cut her off following the death of her mother, his friends — for the first time — have decided to hit back.
So furious are they by Fern's repeated digs at daytime TV staple This Morning's resident chef — a show on which the estranged pair worked together — they want to redress the balance.
Fern's long-standing former power agent Jon Roseman, who has worked with everyone from the Rolling Stones to Rod Stewart, insists the star's "warm, bubbly, lovely TV persona is not what it seems; she is not the person everybody loves".
He believes Phil was "mildly terrified" of her volatile nature, describing the accomplished broadcaster, 67, as "always the boss".
One anecdote in particular typifies the fragile reality of the couple's relationship.
Jon, who was at one time so close to the pair that they made him godfather to their now 23-year-old daughter Winnie, tells me: "I never really got why Phil married Fern.
"It felt a very unequal relationship.
"But a memory that stands out was back in the early 2000s, when the then-network boss, Simon Shaps, summoned me to ITV and said he was worried about Fern's weight.
"It was made clear that she needed to do something about it if she was to keep her job — imagine that being said nowadays! — and it was my job to tell her.
'Amazing chemistry'
"Well, obviously I didn't really fancy that task, so I arranged to meet Phil at a cafe in Marylebone station and asked him to break the news.
"I felt that as her husband, and someone with whom she worked — and, obviously, as a brilliant chef — he would be best placed to do it.
"He refused.
"He said he just couldn't do it.
"He was worried how she would take it.
"So, a few days later, as Fern and I were driving to collect a Chinese takeaway to have at their house, I told her — I did it as best I could.
"She pulled over and just sobbed.
"But when we got home and she told Phil, he pretended he had no idea — I can understand why.
"It was just easier for him."
To be sure, there will be thousands of men reading this, nodding in sympathy.
After all, no man wants to — or, indeed, should — broach the subject of a woman's weight.
And how utterly devastating, and unacceptable, for poor Fern, being ordered to lose the pounds by bosses.
It is not unfair to say weight has always been a thorny subject for the presenter.
She has spoken candidly about her various weight loss journeys, one of which saw her publicly embarrassed.
I never really got why Phil married Fern. It felt a very unequal relationship
Agent Jon Roseman
The former face of Ryvita's low-fat snacks was unceremoniously dropped by the company after she was forced to admit she had secretly had a gastric band fitted two years previously.
The brand initially stood by her before ultimately parting ways.
It was, then, an operation which helped her drop several dress sizes: not a few wholegrain Ryvita minis, and "healthy eating and exercise", as she had once proudly claimed.
Defending herself on This Morning after the news broke, Fern vowed she had not lied about her surgery and that she had, in fact, been careful in the preceding two years to say, "I eat less and exercise more", which she insisted was "absolutely true".
Fern's weight once again cropped up in an interview she did last week, in which she discussed another weight loss success, this time crediting a love of "running".
She told Woman And Home magazine how she had cut a lot of sugar from her diet and taken on the Couch To 5k jogging programme, dropping down to a size 12 "naturally".
But a pal of Phil's recalled his ex had "dodgy knees", meaning she could no longer run.
"Whatever the reality, she looks and feels great so good for her," they added.
On the subject of interviews, it was in another chat with Yours magazine, to promote her new novel, that Fern admitted the pair no longer had any contact.
She said: "He hasn't spoken to me for six years now.
"As soon as my mum died, he stopped talking to me."
Fans immediately took to social media to accuse Phil of being cold and callous.
The truth is, the pair no longer have any communication whatsoever.
Certainly there is no "great friendship".
A friend says: "They both love and adore Winnie, but she is stuck in the middle of two warring parents.
"It must be said, though, they are both wonderful parents."
All this toxicity is a far cry from the happy, domesticated image the pair portrayed first on Ready, Steady, Cook — where they met in 1996 — and then on This Morning, the show that made them both household names.
They both love and adore Winnie, but she is stuck in the middle of two warring parents
A friend
The pair, who I'm told had "amazing chemistry" from the off, married in 2000 following her split from first husband, TV exec Clive Jones.
Fern, who had a notoriously strained relationship with the other Phil in her life, Phillip Schofield, left This Morning in 2009.
She went on to write several best-selling books, winning herself a whole new legion of mainly female fans.
But her stint on Celebrity Big Brother last year was less well received.
Although she came a respectable fifth, she did not endear herself particularly to the public, regularly bursting into tears.
In her 2008 autobiography, the star opened up about her troubled relationship with her famous actor dad, Tony Britton, who left her mother.
She told movingly of her heartbreak.
One acquaintance says: "While it is easy to be critical of some of her behaviour, and the way she was so dismissive of poor Phil at times, we must be empathetic of some of the things she has been through.
"She also has real moments of kindness."
'Enough is enough'
I saw first-hand such kindness in 2015 when I interviewed her ahead of a charity cycle around India. I liked her.
"In real life, she is the funny, vivacious woman you want. And she is happy," I wrote gushingly.
"You got the full Fern charm attack", says Jon.
Lorraine and Phil only became proper mates once the divorce went through
A friend
"Just as she can turn it on brilliantly for the cameras — and, really, she is a first-class journalist and interviewer — she can also be engaging and charismatic off camera.
"Unfortunately it's when she snaps and the mask slips that it's hard for those around her."
While Fern has publicly said she has no interest in romance again, going on both This Morning and James Martin's Saturday Morning to say she would never re-marry, pals say Phil similarly has "no intention of having any relationship again".
Those 2022 photos, they claim, of the chef kissing Fern's best pal Lorraine Stanton, do not appear to be entirely innocent.
"Lorraine and Phil only became proper mates once the divorce went through," says a friend.
"I don't think there was anything more to it, although they remain close."
Fern, though, was said to be "shocked and devastated" by the snatched paparazzi shots.
This, perhaps, is because she has struggled to let go of her handsome ex.
So why are Phil's inner circle speaking out now?
Her hypocrisy, they allege.
When the couple split, they pledged to put their daughter first, acknowledging that having two parents in the public eye isn't easy.
However, last week Fern fuelled the flames when she claimed in the Yours mag interview that she struggled not to "bad-mouth Winnie's dad" in front of her.
Says one friend: "That was the final straw.
"Phil is fine, he's a big boy and he isn't too upset.
"But yes, his mates are seething on his behalf.
"Enough is enough; it is time for everyone to move on and live in peace.
"That's all Phil wants."
Last night spokesmen for Fern and Phil declined to comment.
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