Fern Britton’s nan had a secret child she hid from her family.
The 62-year-old TV presenter learned her grandmother Beryl’s secret after she was contacted by a man claiming to be her mother’s half-brother when she was 23 years old, shortly after landing her first job on TV.
She told Good Housekeeping magazine: "I had started in TV, working in Plymouth, when I received a letter from a man who had seen me on screen, asking if I was Ruth Britton’s daughter.
"When I wrote back to say that I was, he replied saying, ‘I know this sounds extraordinary, but I think I am your mother’s half-brother.’ "
Fern soon discovered her grandmother had given birth out of wedlock before the First World War, and had given the child up for fostering, but he had spent his entire life looking for his birth mother.
She continued: "In secret, Beryl had arranged a private fostering for him and continued to see him, love him, and send whatever money she could spare for his keep.
"It must have been very difficult, because by then she had married my grandfather, Gerald, and went on to have three children."
Fern struggled to find the right time to tell her mum Ruth about Beryl’s secret past, but her mother wasn’t surprised to learn about her half-brother.
Her mum revealed to Fern that Beryl had told her she had done some "wicked things" in her lifetime.
The former ‘This Morning’ presenter said: "It seemed awful to find out that she had carried this guilty secret around with her for years."
Fern declined to name her long-lost uncle but admitted there was a "happy ending" as she and her mother met him and formed a good relationship with him.