Fern Britton 'dropped from Ryvita ads'

Fern Britton has been dropped as the face of Ryvita advertisements, it has been revealed.

Ryvita has claimed that the decision to axe Britton from its commercials was "nothing to do" with her controversial gastric band surgery, reports The Mirror.

A Ryvita spokesperson said: “We met her and her agent and decided it’s better all round that we go separate ways.

“The message she was endorsing wasn’t getting across. We needed to refresh the product and take a different approach. With any advertising campaign we need to ensure people take note of it.

“It’s not that people were switching off, it’s that they weren’t switching on. We needed to adapt our advertising to make it ­relevant for each generation.”

Britton, who has fronted the crispbread commercials for six years, was accused of being dishonest after she revealed two years ago that she had undergone a gastric band operation to lose weight.

However, Ryvita stood by Britton after the revelation, insisting that the main reason for her slimming was "healthy eating and exercise”, and they re-iterated that their latest move was unconnected to the surgery.

They added: “Our decision was nothing to do with her having a gastric band fitted. Fern is a lovely lady and was hired for her personality.”