BBC Breakfast weather presenter Carol Kirkwood has opened up about her desire to have children, but sadly it “just never happened” – and she’s now shared a further poignant detail
BBC Breakfast’s Carol Kirkwood has opened up about her heart-wrenching struggle to have children but insists she’s grateful for the life she’s led. The weather presenter, who recently released her fifth novel, Meet Me at Sunset, spoke candidly about her family life in a recent interview.
Carol, one of eight siblings, has no children of her own despite having wanted to be a mother since she was young. She revealed that she “tried everything” to conceive, but sadly, it “just never happened.”
In a further emotional revelation, Carol shared that her doctors never explained why she couldn’t conceive. Despite this, she chose to focus on the positive aspects of her life.
According to Candis Magazine, Carol “would have loved” to start a family. She said: “Nor did the doctors ever tell us why.”
However, she refused to let this dampen her spirits and highlighted a silver lining, reports the Express.
She reflected: “Well, just look at the life I’ve had. I couldn’t have achieved half of it if I’d had children at home.”
In a 2022 interview with Yours Magazine, Carol echoed these sentiments, acknowledging that her impressive career achievements — “none of that would have been possible” if she’d had children to care for at home.
Carol began her broadcasting career at BBC Scotland before transitioning to radio. She married property developer Jimmy Kirkwood and took a break from the BBC to work in recruitment.
She made her comeback to the BBC more than thirty years ago after joining as a freelance contributor in 1993.
She subsequently became a familiar face on The One Show and BBC Breakfast in her role as a weather forecaster.
Unfortunately, Carol and Jimmy’s marriage ended in divorce in 2008 following 18 years together.
She later married her second husband, police constable Steve Randall, in 2021, though she has previously discussed the challenge of maintaining her cheerful on-screen demeanour during difficult times.
In an interview with Yours Magazine, she revealed: “I still had to be sunny Carol on screen. It was all so shocking to me. I’d come off air, go to the ladies, have a good cry, and then reapply my eye make-up before stepping in front of the cameras again.”
She described how this approach aided her healing process, explaining that she compartmentalised her “grief into a compartment.”
Carol mentioned that this was something she maintained as separate from her professional duties; otherwise, she said, she would have been reduced to a “puddle of tears.”
Nevertheless, Carol has discovered contentment with her new husband, Steve.
She told PA that her partner was “very romantic and very generous” and a “lovely man.”
