When Fern Britton made her return to the This Morning studios at the end of March, it was an emotional moment.

While the location was different – ITV have moved buildings since her departure in 2009 – it brought back some memories for the star. Not all of them good.

Mostly, say friends of Fern, because of how her exit, back in 2009, was mired in such bitter acrimony following a fall-out with her co-host Phillip Schofield.

So powerful was he at the time that their feud meant there could only be one winner, and Fern quickly found herself pushed aside to make way for the much younger Holly Willoughby – Schofield’s then best friend.

But once again on the sofa, those who know Fern say that she was ‘thrilled’ to be back as she was interviewed by new hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley about her three-week stint on ITV’s Celebrity Big Brother.

‘Fern felt right at home,’ says a friend. ‘It was quite something for her to return to the show after what went on with her and Phillip but she loved it.’

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Fern Britton’s emotional return to This Morning last month where she was interviewed by Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard

As did, I’m told, the bosses at ITV.

Some in the upper echelons at the network have ‘long thought it was a mistake’ to sever ties from Fern – who was much loved during her ten-year reign at the helm of the ITV daytime programme.

And now with Schofield firmly out of the picture and her appearance last month such a hit with the viewers, they want her back.

With Cat and Ben being the show’s new signings, getting her old job back would be impossible, say sources at ITV.

However, there are many opportunities for guest presenters on programmes such as Lorraine and of course Loose Women, the network’s panel show which stars former This Morning host, Ruth Langsford, which could lead to a more permanent role.

One ITV insider reveals: ‘Fern is so relatable but after she left This Morning under a bit of a dark cloud she was kind of forgotten.

‘After such a long time things didn’t end well and it meant that perhaps her legacy there had been ignored, but the second she was back on the sofa they realised what they had been missing for all of these years.

‘For many of the bosses it is a no-brainer to use her as much as they can, and of course as much as Fern wants to commit.

‘She is the most experienced and talented of broadcasters and is absolutely adored by the British public.’

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Those who know Fern say that she was ‘thrilled’ to be back on the ITV morning show

Many took to X, formerly Twitter, to share their feelings about seeing Fern back on the sofa

Indeed she is and fans took to social media to tell ITV bosses so following her appearance, even calling for her to be holiday cover for the newly ordained Ben and Cat – slots that are usually filled by Alison Hammond, Josie Gibson or Rochelle Humes.

‘So fabulous to see Fern back on the show… Holiday stand in… ??? Hope so!!’ tweeted one after watching her interview.

Bosses at the network take notice of viewer comments and often act upon what they want.

Friends of Fern say she was delighted at the feedback and has, herself, had a new lease of life and is keen to make a significant return to television. Her decision to want to make a comeback is helped by the fact that Schofield is no longer involved at ITV.

He was, say her friends, ‘pretty horrid’ to her.

‘With Phil no longer at ITV calling the shots like he did before, there are many opportunities for Fern. He wielded so much power there that if you crossed him, you were done for. That was where Fern found herself, it was pretty awful back them but time is a great healer.

‘Not only was Fern a victim of that but she didn’t exactly want to be around him anyway so she just left them all to it and went onto have a nice life and move on from all of the toxicity.’

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Presenting This Morning with co-host Phillip Schofield in 2005. Tensions have since soured

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With her ex-husband TV chef Phil Vickery, whom she split with in 2020 after 20 years together

Fern was said to have felt like she was ‘undervalued by ITV’ and ‘living in Schofield’s shadow’ before she was ultimately replaced by Holly.

It was also reported she was being paid £250,000 a year less than Schofield at This Morning. Similarly, he was believed to be earning three times her salary when they were fronting the ITV game show, Mr and Mrs, together from 2008 to 2010.

The gender pay gap was said to have ‘infuriated’ Fern so much so that when she left the former friends didn’t speak at all. ITV would not comment on this.

That was until 2018 when they locked horns once again, this time when This Morning was presented with a Bafta to mark 30 years of the show. All the big stars were there – except Fern.

‘Congrats on the Bafta. That was absolutely wonderful and brilliant. I would have loved to have been there but I didn’t get an invitation,’ she wrote pithily on social media.

Schofield swiped back with a saccharine post on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying: ‘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.’

Fern is already being inundated with offers following her popularity on Celebrity Big Brother in which she reached the final along with former X Factor judge, Louis Walsh.

Guest slots leading into a full-time role is familiar territory for Fern, 66. She started out on This Morning as a stand-in before she joined the show full time in 1999 – initially hosting with disgraced former Blue Peter star John Leslie.

He was sacked by ITV after he was accused of numerous sexual offences, all of which, subsequently, he was cleared of.

Fern was said to be ‘devastated’ at Leslie’s departure, and was unflinching in her public support for him, calling him ‘her friend’.

During her stint on This Morning, Fern prompted many column inches of her own: in 2000 she divorced her husband, television executive Clive Jones, and father to her three children, and married TV chef Phil Vickery.

The pair had met on BBC2 show Ready Steady Cook, and Vickery also appeared on This Morning as their resident chef. They went on to have a daughter together, Winnie, in 2001.

In 2008, she attracted unwelcome attention for very different reasons when she was exposed for having had a gastric band fitted which saw her drop from a size 22 to a 12.

After leaving the show in 2009, Fern moved to Cornwall where she lived a quiet life.

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Fern leaving the Celebrity Big Brother house last month in fifth place

For many years she escaped the limelight and engrossed herself in writing novels and being a ‘busy’ mum to her four children: Winnie and twins Harry and Jack, 29, and 26-year-old daughter Grace.

For her, after so many years of being tabloid fodder, it was, her friends say, ‘blissful’ for her.

But sadly, she found herself back in the headlines in 2020, which she and Phil announced they were splitting up, after 20 years together.

Speaking of the divorce, she said: ‘Looking back, I don’t think I was as sane as I thought I was at the time.

‘I remember endless days of indolence, not being able to go anywhere, not doing anything, not wanting to get out of bed.

‘I’m rebuilt and I’m doing OK. I was not suicidal, but life had knocked me for six. I was lost, then I found a bit of purpose again and it’s been lovely.

‘We simply needed to follow our own paths. Over time we realised we weren’t necessarily having the kind of life we once did. It seemed right to say, “Thank you,” and move on.’

But her heartache worsened two years later when rumours circulated that Vickery was dating Fern’s close friend Lorraine Stanton. They were pictured kissing each other in London.

Before she entered the Celebrity Big Brother house she went on a mission to lose weight, and apparently shed more than three stone as a result of her running through the Cornwall countryside, all of which she documented on her Instagram page.

She also posts regularly about her beloved cats, Dr Mackerel, Dr Iain and Barbara, and enjoys nothing more than a picnic on the beach close to her idyllic home.

An ITV source tells me that they ‘welcomed Fern back with open arms’ and admit that now, more than ever, she is someone whom their viewers can relate to.

‘Fern has been through it all, she has lost a high profile job, divorced twice, she’s a mother, she struggles with her weight, all of that is so relatable for our viewers. You never know, next time Cat is off you might just see Fern back on the sofa.

‘Watch this space.’