Fern Britton Meets...

Lore & Background

The series was announced in November 2009, and Britton said: 'All the interviewees come from very different backgrounds but what binds them together is the fact that, although their faith has been challenged, they've emerged with strong spiritual beliefs.' The programme was one of several presented by Britton after she left the ITV daytime show This Morning earlier in the year. Each episode featured Britton interviewing a different personality, with the discussion focussed on how the individual's beliefs have shaped their lives.

Reader's Guide

Fern Britton Meets... ran for nine series from 2009 to 2017, airing on BBC One during Advent. Its significance lies in its focus on the intersection of personal faith, career, and public life, offering a platform for high-profile figures to discuss their spiritual journeys. The programme gained particular attention for an interview with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, aired on 13 December 2009, in which he stated he would still have thought it right to remove Saddam Hussein even without evidence of weapons of mass destruction. This statement drew responses from former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix, former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell, and Conservative MP Richard Ottaway, each questioning Blair's sincerity or motives. Blair later addressed the interview at the Iraq Inquiry on 29 January 2010, admitting it was a mistake to say he would have removed Saddam regardless of WMD, and his performance was condemned by families of military personnel killed in Iraq as disrespectful. The series thus serves as a cultural artifact of the post-Iraq War era, capturing the ongoing debate over the invasion's justification.

Did You Know?

• The series aired on BBC One during the four Sundays of Advent from 29 November 2009 to 17 December 2017.
• It was one of several programmes presented by Fern Britton after she left the ITV daytime show This Morning earlier in 2009.
• The Tony Blair interview was recorded in July 2009, months before the Iraq Inquiry convened.
• Blair told the inquiry he 'did not use the words regime change in that interview'.

A Stage for Belief and Conversation

The BBC One series Fern Britton Meets... ran from 2009 through 2017, giving the presenter a dedicated platform to sit down with high-profile figures and explore their views on religion and faith. Rather than following the typical celebrity chat format she had grown accustomed to on ITV, the show positioned Britton as a thoughtful interviewer, drawing out personal reflections from guests who might not otherwise discuss such topics on television. The series was branded under her own name, signalling a personal creative project rather than a network-mandated slot. Over its eight-year run, the programme established itself as a distinct voice within BBC One's schedule, offering a more contemplative and one-on-one conversational style that contrasted with the faster-paced panel and game shows dominating British television at the time. For Britton, it represented a chance to showcase a more inquisitive, listening side of her presenting craft, moving beyond the quick-fire banter of breakfast television and the structured formats of cookery competitions.

The Interview That Made Headlines

The series is perhaps best remembered for a single conversation that drew widespread public attention: Britton's interview with former Prime Minister Tony Blair. In that exchange, Blair stated that he still would have considered it right to remove Iraqi president Saddam Hussein even in the absence of evidence that he possessed weapons of mass destruction. The remark gave the programme a political edge far beyond its usual contemplative tone, and it ensured that Fern Britton Meets... was discussed in contexts well outside the world of light entertainment. The interview demonstrated the show's capacity to provoke genuine debate, as Britton's role as a calm, probing interviewer allowed a former head of government to articulate a controversial position on camera without the usual spin of a press conference. For viewers, it underscored that the series was not merely a vehicle for feel-good spiritual chat but could serve as a forum for difficult, consequential questions, lending the programme a legacy that extended well past its eight-year broadcast life.

From Breakfast Panels to Deep Conversation

Fern Britton Meets... arrived at a pivotal moment in Britton's career. She had spent a decade on ITV's This Morning, first as a guest presenter from 1993, then as a full-time host of the Friday edition from September 1999, and eventually as a main presenter alongside John Leslie and later Phillip Schofield. On 25 March 2009 she announced her departure after ten years, and her farewell episode aired on 17 July 2009, her fifty-second birthday. The move to BBC One for her own interview series marked a deliberate shift in format: after years of fast-paced panel discussion, cookery competition on Ready Steady Cook between 1994 and 2000, and even a stint as the BBC's youngest-ever national news presenter on Breakfast Time, she was now given the space for slower, more reflective one-on-one conversations. Her early career as a continuity announcer and newsreader at Westward Television in Plymouth in 1980, and her training in stage management at the Central School of Speech and Drama, had equipped her with a discipline for listening and structure that the interview format brought to the fore.

A Career That Kept Evolving

The eight-year run of Fern Britton Meets... was one chapter in a career that has continuously reinvented itself. Alongside the series, Britton took over Channel 4's daytime slot with Fern in 2011, presented The Big Allotment Challenge for the BBC between 2014 and 2015, and fronted a 2022 revival of Watercolour Challenge on Channel 5. Beyond the screen, she has established herself as a published author, with novels, short stories, and non-fiction titles that have appeared on The Sunday Times bestseller list. She also embraced more playful and physical television, appearing as a contestant on the tenth series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2012 and, in 2024, as a housemate on the twenty-third series of Celebrity Big Brother. Her earlier work co-presenting the British Soap Awards from 2006 to 2008 and All Star Mr & Mrs from 2008 to 2010 with Phillip Schofield, and her hosting of the Classical Brit Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in 2007, showed a range that the intimate interview format of Fern Britton Meets... complemented rather than replaced.