Fern Britton has opened up on her time on This Morning, saying she hadn't expecting to resign on the day that she did.

The presenter, 66, hosted the ITV daytime show alongside Phillip Schofield from 1999 to 2009, when she was replaced by Holly Willoughby.

She said she hadn't been 'good at simpering around bosses' and admitted she regretted not doing so, while stating that Holly, 43, had 'that beautiful face' and she did not. 

Speaking to Bella magazine, Fern said: 'I've never been considered glam. When you are a great beauty like Holly Willoughby for instance, she has that beautiful face. 

'She's a beauty. I didn't ever have that. I've never been judged by that, which has also been very handy. 

'Every time I've met Joan Collins, who can be a bit iffy with women, she's been absolutely charming because I'm clearly not trying to measure myself up to her. That makes life much easier.'

It was claimed at the time of Fern's This Morning exit she felt 'undervalued by ITV' and that she was 'living in Phil's shadow'.

Last year, she confirmed while she had a 'marvelous' time working on This Morning, she hasn't stayed in touch with Phillip. 

When she entered the Celebrity Big Brother house earlier this year, it was thought she would take the opportunity to speak out about her 'feud' with the presenter.

However, Fern largely refrained from commenting on Phil in the house, and explained that she had resisted because it was 'old views'.

She said: 'It's fair to say that towards the end we were not getting on. Things were tricky. There are some things that I think - as a collective - you can't and wouldn't want to hear, or see, or be talked about. 

'I haven't been on that show for 15 years. I don't know anything that's been going on since then. And so it would be very old views and not terribly interesting.'

However she added: 'But I did love This Morning. I absolutely loved it. I wasn't expecting to resign on the day I resigned.'

Fern continued by claiming that bosses hadn't 'connected' with her due to the fact she was 'never a diva'.

She said: 'That is the thing about not being careful, ambitious or protective enough of myself because I hate having smoke blown up my a**e and I'm not good at simpering around bosses. 

'After 44 years, I realise that I should have done more of those things. I think bosses didn't quite connect with me because I was never a diva. 

'At the end of the show, I just wanted to go home and be with the kids. I haven't really followed the instruction book for female presenters. Don't hold me up as any kind of example because I've made loads of mistakes.'

When Fern left the show, it was reported she was being paid £250,000 a year less than Phil and that he was earning three times her salary when they were fronting Mr and Mrs together from 2008 to 2010.

Phil is said to have banked £45,000 an hour while Fern earned just £15,000. 

Fern admitted said she has been 'careless' at points in her career and has been too 'gung-ho', resulting in driving her 'life into a cul-de-sac'.

She also said she regrets not being more 'ambitious', with jobs coming her way out of 'pure luck' rather than her own tenacity.

'I regret that in lots of ways I didn't pay attention to my career because I'm not particularly ambitious,' she said.

'Lots of things came my way out of pure luck, I'm full of imposter syndrome anyway and so I was having these terrific experiences and loving them all, until things got difficult.'

She said: 'See, that's where I've been careless. I don't look – I wait for it to land and go, "Yeah, I'll have a go".

'I'm too gung-ho and I've often driven my life into a cul-de-sac – and I thought, 2OK, let's get out of there then".'