Fern Britton gave up smoking for good and got life back on track after embarrassing moment

The TV presenter turned author is 'repowering' her life after a tough few years of loss, and explained how she gradually pulled herself out of a 'very bad place'

Fern Britton gave up smoking and pulled herself out of a bad place after an embarrassing moment at a party.

The former This Morning presenter turned to cigarettes and alcohol during the Covid lockdowns, having grieved the loss of her parents and the breakdown of her marriage in the years leading up to the pandemic.

Fern took the habit of smoking up later in life but put a stop to it after an eventful night out with her friends.

Read more: Fern Britton opens up about separating from husband after 20 years of marriage

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"The fags, I was so good at it! And I was 62, 63. I took to it like a duck to water! It punctuated the day, lets have a fag and then what time is it 4 o'clock? Let's have a glass of wine," she told The Mirror at Cheltenham Festival.

"Looking back I was in a very bad place and gradually I started to pull myself out of it."

The TV star explained that while on the way home with pals she had to stop the car to get sick in a field after "overdoing the nicotine" at a party.

Fern added: "I was in the hedgerow retching so much that I farted, and all I could hear in the car was the girls saying 'classy lady' - so I haven't touched one since."

Following this, Fern also got back into exercising to help put her life back on track, and now she has written a book about "repowering" her life as she gets older.

She said: "Older people, we pretend that we've led model lives to our children and grandchildren, and I think it's about time we remembered that actually we did flatten the grass with a lot of unsuitable people.

"We did get absolutely off our faces on cheap beer and cider and, yes, most of us did try a bit of drugs even if it's just a quick spliff but we did it and there's no point in pretending we were angels."

Fern's book, The Older I Get, is focused on remembering her younger days and having them serve as inspiration and motivation for today.

In the four years since she split from TV chef Phil Vickery, she has moved to Cornwall, pursued a career as an author and appeared on Celebrity Big Brother.

Even though she is content with life at the moment, Fern does still suffer from imposter syndrome at times:

"When I was in my twenties I had lots of energy, lots of power and lots of fun. I'm going to reach back and pull that into this lifestyle and take It forward. And you can do that too.

"I'm not very good at saying myself 'Well done'. I'm gung ho but I am amazed when things happen."

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