Fern signs off This Morning in tears

Fern signs off This Morning in tears
Fern signs off This Morning in tears (Image credit: PA Archive/PA Photos)

Fern Britton wiped away tears as she received a surprise video message from her former This Morning co-host John Leslie on her last day on the show. Fern, 52, will be replaced after a decade on the flagship ITV1 programme by 28-year-old Holly Willoughby when the series returns after its summer break. Leslie was sacked from the show following allegations arising from TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson's autobiography - although she herself did not name him. In the moving video tribute, Leslie played a song for Britton on the piano, loosely based on Frank Sinatra classic My Way. He sang: "You lived a life that's full and still got up early in the morning. But more, much more than this, we're gonna miss Fern's way... Charm, wit and beauty, she's got the lot. You will be missed." Sitting in front of a picture of Fern and himself, he said: "Cheers my love, all the best." Fern sat on the sofa flanked by her screen partner Phillip Schofield and her real life husband, TV chef Phil Vickery as tributes were paid. Clips from her best bits were shown and there were video tributes from stars including Johnny Vegas, Ricky Gervais and Paul O'Grady. At the start of the programme, Torchwood star John Barrowman sang Can't Take My Eyes Off You to Fern.

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.