Fern Britton breaks silence after ex-husband Phil Vickery is photographed kissing her best friend

Ferne Britton has broken her silence after photographs were published showing ex-husband Phil Vickery kissing her best friend.

On Friday, the TV chef, 61, was pictured on the front page of the Sun newspaper passionately kissing Lorraine Stanton, 58, during a date in London.

Hospitality worker Stanton has been close friends with former This Morning presenter Britton, 65, for years, with the publication claiming she feels “betrayed”.

Addressing the issue on Twitter, Britton cryptically wrote on Twitter that the story is “not true,” causing confusion among her fans.

She tweeted: “Good morning all. Just to clear up any concerns re @TheSun front page. It is not true.”

An insider has now claimed that the TV personality is both hurt and embarrassed by the pictures, so decided to make a statement in order to minimise the situation and “stop it getting out of control”.

“Fern finds the situation weird and awkward and has learned that Lorraine is clearly not a great mate,” a source told the MailOnline.

Adding: “She’s shocked and is struggling to process her mixed emotions. On the one hand, she had felt like she’d moved on from Phil but she hadn’t expected this new romance and it’s been hard to see.”

Vickery and Britton called time on their marriage after 20 years in 2020.

Britton has been open about struggling to move on following the end of her marriage.

Discussing the split in July, she told Prima magazine: “I don’t want to be the poster girl for separation, though, because a lot of people go through the same thing.

“Often, the children leave home and you look at each other and go, ‘Ah, where do we go from here?’ I only wish I was the sort of person who could have persevered through that, but I couldn’t.”

Evening Standard has contacted a representative for Fern Britton and Phil Vickery for comment.