Fern Britton has hit out at the “embarrassing” way shows like This Morning and Loose Women beg for votes at the National Television Awards.
The presenter, who fronted This Morning between 1999 and 2009, said that she “can’t bear it” when hosts canvass for votes from viewers to win a gong at the annual telly bash.
Appearing on Kate Thornton’s White Wine Question Time podcast, Fern said: “The very important thing, as you know as well, to be a real presenter, in terms of that kind of show – Loose Women, This Morning, those kinds of shows – you are not the star.
“The person, the story, is the star. And I always wanted every guest to be comfortable, to know that their story’s been told… they’ve been able to tell their story properly, fully, been listened to and heard.
“And that was the most important thing and is the most important thing. I can’t bear it – you know, I couldn’t bear it then and I can’t bear it now – when all the programmes for the National Television Awards, they’re all, ‘You must vote for us! Vote for us! Vote for us!’
“And you think, ‘How embarrassing is that?’ I couldn’t bear to do that. People are going to vote for you if they like you. I couldn’t do it.”
She added: “Why would I? I’m not canvassing. We’re not the prime minister. It’s just to get a silly statue!”
Earlier this week, Fern appeared to end her 14-year feud with her former This Morning co-host Phillip Schofield.
She sent a surprise message to Phillip to mark 40 years of his TV career during a special celebration on Lorraine Kelly’s show on Monday.
Following Fern’s exit from This Morning in 2009, after which she was replaced by Holly Willoughby, it was rumoured she’d fallen out with Phil in a row about pay, although she has denied this on a number of occasions.
Instead, she claimed that she had stopped enjoying working on the show as following an undisclosed incident on the morning she resigned that prompted her to hand her notice in.
In his 2020 autobiography, Phil shed light on what he believed to be the cause of their fall-out, which came after Fern apparently accused him of “meddling” in the show’s content.
He added: “I have tried over the years to make it right, but Fern has moved on, and I understand that. I still miss her deeply though, and in recent times would have valued her counsel.”
White Wine Question Time is available to stream on all podcast platforms.