Last Updated: 29 Apr 2009

Fern Britton has spectacularly quit!

Fern has been the lead female presenter on This Morning for an impressive ten years, but now she has announced that she is not renewing her contract.

Even though she earned a reported £700,000 a year - Fern has thrown in the towel. Some sources at ITV claim that the 51-year-old was keen to spend more time with her family.

But other sources say she was fed up of being in co-presenter Philip Schofield's shadow. Phil has gone on to win a number of prime time TV slots including the lucrative Saturday night entertainment shows, but Fern has remained 'pigeon holed' in the world of morning television.

So far Fern has not confirmed or denied any of the rumours, but she did release a statement saying, "After ten years with This Morning, I have decided to leave at the end of the current series. I will present my last show on 17 July, my birthday, which seems somehow appropriate."