She’s one of the most familiar faces on British television – but what many fans don’t realise is that Fern Britton has a half-brother who’s a successful actor with A-list credentials. While Fern made her name on This Morning, presenting the ITV daytime favourite from 1999 to 2009, her brother Jasper Britton has been carving out a career on stage and screen – and is now starring alongside Idris Elba in Apple TV+’s thriller, Hijack.

Jasper plays Marcus, one of the mysterious hijackers in the high-stakes drama, and his sister couldn’t be prouder. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, Fern shared recently: “I’m off to bed to catch ep3 of Hijack! The Apple TV drama starring my brother Jasper Britton with some bloke called Idris Elba.” While Jasper may be a familiar face to theatre and TV fans, many are unaware of his family connection to Fern. The pair share the same father – the late actor Tony Britton – but grew up separately.

Fern, born in 1957 to Tony and Ruth Britton, was raised with her sister Cherry. Jasper, born in 1962, is Tony’s son from his second marriage to Eva Castle Britton.

Despite being siblings, Fern only found out about Jasper when she was a teenager – and has spoken openly about the confusion she felt growing up.

In a recent episode of Channel 5’s No Place Like Home, she explained: “I didn’t know what was going on in the family at that stage. I just knew that it was me and my mum and my sister here and that my father didn’t live here. It was odd. In those days, people didn’t tell you things.”

Jasper, meanwhile, launched his acting career on the stage. One of his earliest roles was as the King of France in King Lear at the Old Vic, and he later joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, performing in The Beggar’s Opera and Antony and Cleopatra.

In 1995, he took over from Eddie Izzard in the title role of Richard III in a production directed by Brian Cox – a performance that earned him critical acclaim.

Years later, he won further praise for playing Johnny ‘Rooster’ Byron in a 2018 revival of Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury.

On screen, Jasper’s credits include the 2005 historical drama The New World, where he appeared alongside Colin Farrell, Christian Bale and Jonathan Pryce. He’s also featured in Midsomer Murders, Heartbeat, and the BBC comedy, Carrie & Barrie.

Fern, 67, has also undergone a striking transformation in recent years, crediting her healthy lifestyle to regular exercise and clean eating.

Speaking to Woman & Home, she revealed her motivation is staying strong for her four children, saying: “It’s my duty to stay as healthy as I can for the sake of my children.” Fern has four children, Winnie, 23, Grace, 27, and twin boys Harry and Jack, 31.