Fern Britton co-hosted This Morning alongside Philip Schofield between 2002 and 2009 but it seems the pair are no longer close friends

Philip Schofield and his This Morning co-host Fern Britton were the darlings of day time TV when they shared the sofa.

But following her departure from the hit ITV talk show in 2009, the pair’s seemingly once close friendship appears to have turned sour.

In his poignant autobiography, Phil claims Fern didn’t contact him when he came out as gay earlier this year – but did send a message to his wife, Steph.

Writing in his new book Life’s What You Make It about Fern’s reaction, Phil says: “When I came out, she didn’t text me. She did text Steph though, which was really kind.”

Phil publicly came out in an emotional interview with This Morning co-host and best friend, Holly Willoughby, in February after he posted a powerful post on Instagram.