Fern Britton returned to This Morning on Wednesday following a short break. Fern, 50, took time off from the ITV1 daytime show after admitting she had undergone a gastric banding operation. Although reports speculated that she would have 'talks' with ITV bosses on Wednesday, Fern appeared alongside co-host Phillip Schofield. A row erupted when Fern admitted that her dramatic weight-loss was due to having a gastric band fitted in 2006 - and not down to diet and exercise, which she had originally claimed. Fern is reportedly paid £200,000 to be the face of healthy eating product Ryvita Minis and Ryvita Crispbread. She told This Morning viewers last week that what she had said about eating less and exercising more was 'absolutely true'. She added that she did not feel the need to 'tell everybody' when she initially underwent surgery, and only decided to go public after a Sunday newspaper said it planned to run the story. Fern, who has presented the popular ITV show since 2001, made light of the situation, joking: "If I have a face-lift or haemorrhoids or something, I will ring the Sunday papers straight away."
