Anthea Turner’s sister Wendy has revealed she offered to donate her eggs during her sister’s fertility battle before they fell out and didn’t speak for four years.
At the time of their split, the TV presenter, 64, had just split from Grant Bovey in 2013 following his infidelity and fertility issues, while journalist Wendy, 57, was also going through a tough time with husband Gary Webster.
Write in a joint piece in The Sunday TimesThe sisters explained how their own trauma meant they struggled to be there for each other.
Wendy recalled: ‘When he (Grant) left her for the last time, his personal assistant rang me to say: “Can you come over? Anthea is very unwell.” There were lots of incidents like that. We talked about everything, had a few gin and tonics and shouted to the world.
“It was heartbreaking – she had had many IVF treatments and at one point we had talked about donating my eggs.”
Anthea Turner’s sister Wendy has revealed she offered to donate her eggs during her sister’s fertility battle before they fell out and didn’t speak to each other for four years (pictured in 2004).
When they spoke again, the sisters found they could pick up where they left off simply because they are family (Anthea pictured May 2024)
Anthea added: ‘Wendy and I never lived in each other’s pockets, but it was still tough when we didn’t speak for a couple of years. I had just gotten divorced. I had put all my eggs in one basket with Grant and I didn’t expect things to go south.
‘Wendy and Gary were having problems, but it was their life and there wasn’t much more I could do.’
The former Blue Peter star insisted her sister and brother-in-law are “completely healthy” these days before revealing the catalyst for their reunion was her mother’s ill health.
The couple lost their mother Jean in 2022, and although Anthea and Wendy have resumed contact in the years since, the former GMTV presenter insisted they will “never speak” about their fight.
Currently, Anthea – who remains close to her stepdaughters Claudia, 27, Amelia, 29, and Lily, 30 – and her sister communicate “every two days.”
When they started talking again, the sisters found they could pick up where they left off simply because they are family.
The sisters spoke about their feud during an appearance on This Morning in June.
Host Cat Deeley asked: ‘What’s interesting is that they have an intrinsic friendship and sisterhood, they’re very close, but they had a big falling out.
“Our phone call today is about family feuds and I think one of the things you’ll want to understand is how to heal a rift,” host Ben Shepherd asked.
The former Blue Peter presenter married Grant Bovey in 2000 but they divorced in 2015, years after it was revealed she had been having an affair.
The marriage ended after Anthea discovered that Grant, then 52, was having an affair with interior designer Zoe de Mallet Morgan (pictured 2013).
Speaking about their renewed relationship, Wendy recalled: ‘Well, I guess in our case, the fact that our mother was ill and then died certainly helped. We had to come together for the sake of our father.
“It’s really hard because it just happened.”
Anthea then gave advice to anyone else who was in a similar situation.
She said: “The least you can say is that it gets sorted out, and sometimes the subject is not brought up again. They are sisters, we just talked about the benchmarks, for whatever reason, they get back together.”
And Wendy added: “We never analysed what went wrong or what went right.”
The sisters spoke about their feud during an appearance on This Morning in June.