Britton "anxious" over gastric band row

Fern Britton is now a shadow of her former self on the set of This Morning, according to a report today.

The show's team are believed to be shocked by the change in Britton's behaviour since she returned to work following the row surrounding her gastric band surgery.

Britton was accused of being dishonest after her secret was exposed by a Sunday newspaper. She had previously explained her dramatic weight loss by saying she had "just ate a bit healthier and took up cycling to work".

A show source told The Mirror: "Fern is terrified she will lose her job because of the swing in opinion against her. She isn't talking openly to anyone at work and she has gone from being this warm, open, jokey woman to a paranoid, anxious presenter."

"Fern was someone who was always off on lunches with someone from the team. All that has stopped," the insider continued. "It's so ironic that she went through with the operation to become happier and in the past few weeks she's turned into a wreck. The bubbly, funny Fern has totally disappeared. And she is devastated by the amount of letters from women saying they don't trust her anymore."

The 50-year-old hit back at the criticism on This Morning just one day after her secret was revealed, but she was then accused of appearing overly defiant. Fern subsequently took time off from the show.

"She gave that so-called apology without the consent of the ITV press office," the source revealed. "They wanted to talk to her about it, but she said: 'Don't tell me, I'm going to do it my way.' You could see that [co-host] Phillip Schofield was really embarrassed by it all at the time because she made a real error of judgement."