please stop hounding the nicest person on tv. she does her job better than anyone standing in for her. its none of our business what she does in her private life. so she didnt shout it from the highest moutain about her private business, so what, please fern come back we love you.

georgina scott, banbridge, down

Well said, India. The papers 'slam' and 'blast', and the public are expected to be suitably 'disgusted' and 'outraged'. It's tiresome. Of course Fern is entitled to a private life.

Alice, Guildford,

I do not believe that Fern is dishonest or irresponsible. Irresponsible for having a gastric band fitted. Can't the British public 'get a grip'.

She has obviously saved herself years of ill health added years to her life and will be around for her kids now! that's responsible.

Go Fern your brill!

Kerry Horsman-Gray, Rugby, UK

Most of you - and the reactionary masses - have completely missed the point.

It was *Fern* who made her body and her weight our business. We didn't, she did. She has done interviews on it, she trades on it, she advertises products because of it, she details it in public.

Now she's lied.

Helen E., London, UK

I don't see anything wrong with Fern's behaviour so good for you India for speaking out. She can endorse Ryvita all she likes but no one is going to believe she eats it all the time and it's responsible for her weight loss. Gastric banding means changing eating habits anyway just like a diet

Jill, Boston, UK

I have no idea where the "she says ryvita is the reason she lost weight" is coming from. I agree with this article because it obviously supposed to be a bit of fun. So many people in this country are so small minded and the fact that the tabloids decided to call her a liar and cheat is ridiculous!

Peter, Banbridge, Northern Ireland

She did tell the truth when she said that her weight loss was caused by eating less. Well she couldn't eat as much, could she (without throwing up ...?)

Sue C, Manchester, England

I think anyone who loses a dramatic amount of weight should be congratulated whatever the method used . However, in Fern's case she has advertised Ryvita's crisp bread and claimed that she lost the weight by eating less and excerising.

But in the end it is her business.

P Bennett, Lewisham, LONDON

i wish i had the money to do it i am so desperate i am on the cambridge diet at the moment i just feel like crying i have no where to go i wish i was her.

tracy, west midlands, birmingham

Does it matter? if shes happy then good on her. Shes done something incredibly brave.

Sarah , Plymouth , UK

I would suspect that Fern Britton's contract with Ryvita had more to do with the pun that could be made from her surname.

"Britton loves Ryvita" is clearly true especially with a £300,000 sweatener while "Britain loves Ryvita" would be rapidly stamped on as fraudulent by Advertising Standards.

BP Vallance, Corfu, Greece

Totally agree with Laura. If Fern takes the advertising dollar floggin slimmers' snack, Ryvita Mini's, then she is putting herself in the front line. Check out the ads on Youtube.

Hugh Szymonowsi, London,

She's being paid some £700,000 a year for sitting in front of a camera.

You go girl...............

John, London,

In today’s world of reality TV coupled with microscopic media intrusion, we are increasingly discovering that celebrities are…ordinary human beings, just like us.

Being a celebrity shouldn't eternally forfeit your right to any sort of privacy.

Dave, Home Counties,

India , Fern was always going to be damned if she did damned if she didnt but she took the money for Ryvita , a product well associated with diets, it smacks of double standards. She is a role model and perhaps she underestimated the influence she has.Rights to choose come with responsibilities.

Susan, France.,

If you are interested in Fern's gut then you need to check your mental health. What passes for media in UK has been feeding on it like Fern on a pork pie, and just shows how hungry and desperate it is for junk to fill it's cancerous bowels, regurgitating bile into the minds of a depressive populace.

Carl, London, UK

is the same braying media who some time ago stated she was so fat she was putting her life in danger and that if she cared for her children she would lose the weight?

Andy, london,

Fern Britton has been paid a small fortune to endorse Ryvita, implying fibre in her diet has been responsible for her weight loss - and that is deceptive. Catholics are all over this; it's lying by omission. She can do whatever she likes but when she colludes with duping people, she invites this

Ed, Cardiff,

Surely the point is not the surgery in itself, but the fact that she made a conscious decision to publicly attribute her weight loss to other, more difficult, more "virtuous" causes, and presumably benefited financially (or at least avoided financial loss) from these claims?

Ian Kemmish, Biggleswade, UK

Leave her alone, she has lost weight and keeping off.
Well done Fern.....

Valerie Andrews, Wokingham, Berkshire

Absolutely incorrect. She herself made her body our business by telling us about it, making claims, advising the public on weight loss activities. If she hadn't done this, then yes it's just her business, but that is NOT the case.

She's a fraud.

Laura Roberts, London, UK

"the public’s weird and stalkerish desire to own famous people" , "The public is making that difficult for her "- since when does the public go around photographing celebs, digging into their private lives, writing articles and publishing papers? I thought that was what people in the media did!

maria, athens,

Fern has made a fortune from discussing celeb gossip, inside info on the royals, who's having affairs with whom and just about every subject you can mention!

She REVELS in it and she ADORES getting a piece of juicy gossip but she doesn't like it when the tables are turned!

She WAS dishonest

Mary , East Anglia, UK

Absolutely spot on. Tabloid media attacks on anyone in the public eye disgust me. Fern's weight loss and how she achieved it is nobody's business than her own. It's good to see her defended so articulately.

Jane, Cambridge,

Why are you blaming the british public? It was the decision of the new of the world to run this story - the 'great british public' didn't demand that they do so.

Lorraine, Surrey,

Sorry, what Fern did was dishonest & irresponsible. She knows she is a role model for millions & held herself out as an example of what could be done with a diet of almost malnutrition proportions which no doubt influenced some women. Then to find she had private surgery to achieve the results!

JT, Lisbane,

Well said, India.

Fame has become a toxic curse.
The media has no sense of restraint.

I can't stop paparazzi pursuing the famous and making their lives a living hell, but I can stop buying the publications that use paparazzi shots.

Just my little bit towards restoring some sanity.

Dale, Wellington,

The media did the same thing that Fern does when it comes to other celebs on This Morning. She sits there with their gossip reporter and question other people's life choices as if she knows it all. Well, if she can't stand the heat then she should get out of the kitchen.

Amy, Catford, UK

Hear hear! Shame on the News of the World for trivialising such a difficult decision. Being overweight is not a joke. The paper could have used this situation as a way to promote healthy living, exercise and the benefits of weight loss instead of using it as a reason to attack someone.

S. Clark, London,

Well said ! Fern Britton is a seasoned professional, who works tirelessly with the GM team to educate people in a number of topics. Going some way to encourage the sort of society that we would all like to live in, ie a tolerant and understanding one. It isn't for anyone to judge !

Catherine , Lyneham, UK

good article, india. i don't understand why other people feel they have the right to interfere with one's personal business. i lost 5 stones as well on a strict diet and found that people often had unasked for opinions when i was both fat and once i got thin

amber, london,