Television presenter Fern Britton has described the experience of sending her twin sons off to university as "very brutal", offering a candid glimpse into the emotional challenges of becoming an empty nester. The former This Morning and Ready Steady Cook host made the admission while appearing as a guest on Kate Thornton's podcast White Wine Question Time.
A Sudden and Emotional Farewell
During the podcast, Thornton mentioned that her own 18-year-old son was heading to university, calling it "a bit of a tug on the heartstrings." Britton, a best-selling author and mother of four, replied: "It's very difficult. Yes. One minute there's six of you and then there's only you."
Britton has four adult children: daughter Winnie, 23, from her marriage to Phil Vickers, and daughter Grace, 28, and twin sons Harry and Jack, both 31, with ex-husband Clive Jones. She explained that while goodbyes with her other children had been spread out over time, the departure of her twins was markedly different.
Advice for the Moving Day
Offering advice to Thornton, Britton said: "Definitely. Very brutal. Just suddenly gone and didn't want me to deliver them or anything really. So that was very hard, but it taught me some things like to accept that they are going to be tensions on the morning, because you're all emotionally involved, they're all emotionally involved and there's going to be little spats like 'I'll take your bag! I can do it mother' all the sort of stuff."
She emphasised the need to accept the emotional strain of the day, noting that both parents and children experience heightened feelings that can lead to minor conflicts.
Previous Reflections on Family Life
This is not the first time Britton has spoken openly about her children. In a previous interview with Hello magazine, she expressed a desire to see them more often but acknowledged the challenges of distance. "The boys are nearly 31 and they're busy in their own lives, but they're good guys. We live a long way from each other, but we speak a lot – they ask me how I am and that's great. That's all I need. I'd like to see them more, but that's life," she said at the time.
Honesty About Divorce
Britton has also been frank about the impact of her divorce from Clive Jones. Speaking to The Telegraph last year, she said: "Divorce is not a breeze. No matter how you hope it's going to be easy and pain-free, inevitably it isn't. It's difficult and brings up a lot of unpleasant characteristics in everybody." She added that after the process ends, "there's a little bit of time where you have to just let the emotions subside. And then you can start looking back on how things were good and it was unfortunate that it just ran out of steam or whatever it was."
Upcoming TV Appearance
Britton is set to appear in a new show called Fern Britton: Inside The Vets, which premieres today (July 12) at 11.30am on ITV.
