Fern Britton admitted "nobody told me" as she shared a startling family revelation.

The 66-year-old TV presenter discovered her late dad, actor Tony Britton, left her late mum Ruth and her sister Cherry, but after he went back to their home to visit them, Tony had a one-night stand with Ruth, which led to Fern's conception.

In conversation with the Mirror, she shared insights about her family's past, saying: "There were so many secrets when I was growing up. I never grew up with my father and didn't know what had happened.

"When I was in my 50s, he told me he'd left my mum and sister, but on a visit home, he jumped back into bed with my mum.

"By the time he was finished and gone, I was conceived. Everybody must have known but nobody told me."

Ruth, who was full of "energy" following the divorce from Tony, devoted herself to raising Fern.

Fern remarked: "My mum and dad divorced when I was very young, and she focused all her energy on me."

The former Celebrity Big Brother contestant then found out about another relative after receiving a letter from Ruth's half-brother.

"And also my grandmother - she had a child out of wedlock in 1914," Fern revealed.

"One day, when I was working in TV down here, I got a letter from a man saying he was my mum's half-brother. He was the boy my grandmother had to give away."

Drawing from her own history, Fern penned her latest novel, A Cornish Legacy, touching upon narratives of grief, identity, and new beginnings.

The theme of divorce resonates with Fern, who parted ways with TV executive Clive Jones in 2000 after 12 years of marriage. The pair share 31-year-old twin sons Jack and Harry, and 27-year-old daughter Grace.

Fern then ended her 20-year relationship with This Morning chef Phil Vickery in 2020, and the two have remained out of touch since Ruth's passing in 2018.

Speaking to Yours magazine, Fern disclosed: "He hasn't spoken to me for six years now. As soon as my mum died, he stopped talking to me."

The star insists she tries "very hard" to not "bad-mouth" Phil for the sake of their 23-year-old daughter Winnie.

"Winnie adores him. I'm not going to bad-mouth him in front of her; at least, I try very hard not to. I was the child of divorced parents and my mum never bad-mouthed my father," she said.