The ex-This Morning presenter, Strictly Come Dancing contestant, mother-of-four and wife to TV chef Phil Vickery is enjoying life away from the camera as a novelist.
Her third fictional tale, The Holiday Home, provides the perfect summer read.
The story centres on two very different sisters one a hard-nosed businesswoman married to a meek and mild husband, the other a loving wife to a philandering husband.
While in Cornwall for a holiday, skeletons emerge from the cupboard and years of resentment reach boiling point.
Fern, 55, may write about infidelity, but not from personal experience. “Talking to friends, divorces happen and temptation is everywhere. It’s whether you decide to take the plunge or not.”
She laughs when asked if she’s ever been tempted. “No. In both my marriages I’ve been true.”
Fern’s working on her fourth novel, but admits: “I’m still uncertain about saying I’m an author. I’m no Jane Austen!”
These days, she enjoys spending time with her family. She’s been with Phil for almost 15 years.
She fell for him straight away, although she hadn’t noticed him when they were working on Ready, Steady, Cook.
“My first marriage wasn’t in good shape so I was only thinking about work. When it came to an end, someone said to me, ‘Phil Vickery fancies you’.
“I looked, and thought ‘he has nice hands’.”
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