Fern Britton was constantly propositioned for sex on her way to the top of the TV industry.
The 60-year-old broadcaster – who is best known for previously presenting ‘This Morning’ on ITV – has revealed she was repeatedly harassed throughout her career, starting in the 1980s when she was propositioned by a male TV star as she tried out for a role.
She shared: "I was chosen to do a programme in London.
"I was taken out to lunch with the rest of the team and the star of the show – a guy – was sitting there.
"We had done the lunch and we had met the team, it was all very nice and I was 23 or 24.
"Pudding was finishing and everyone was smoking – you could do that then. This guy looked at me and said: ‘I wonder how long it will be before I am having an affair with you. Because I do have a very big c**k’."
Fern was stunned by his statement and the presenter – who is married to TV chef Phil Vickery – rushed home to tell her mum what had happened, before declining the job opportunity.
She told comic Sarah Millican: "It was not the first time a man had made some comment.
"Every one of us has been in a situation somewhere where it has become uncomfortable and inappropriate.
"You think: ‘It was my fault as I turned up for the meeting or agreed to have lunch’. That is slowly disappearing. We have been quietly groomed for centuries without knowing it."
Meanwhile, Fern also revealed she’s been forced to wear hearing aids due to her age.
She said: "I am going to come clean. I wear hearing aids now.
"These are so cool that they are radio-linked to my phone so on the train coming in today I could listen to ‘The Archers’ and nobody knew."
Fern Britton recalls being propositioned by TV star
