Exclusive: In an exclusive conversation with us, Carol Vorderman, 65, states that she is happy living life on her terms and has never shied away from talking about her dating life.
With her winning combination of brains and beauty, Carol Vorderman became a household name during her 26-year stint on Channel 4 game show Countdown . Since then the 65-year-old, who has a degree in engineering from the University of Cambridge, has been a Loose Women panellist, braved the I’m A Celebrity jungle and even been a contestant on The Masked Singer . And she’s now fronting fashion brand JD Williams’ latest campaign, fittingly titled Midlife Is Living Fearlessly.
When it comes to her dating life, Carol has never been one to shy away from the somewhat taboo topic of sex and has famously talked about having “special friends”. In our exclusive chat, she tells us she isn’t interested in ticking boxes and is happy to live life on her own terms. “I have no desire to settle down right now,” she says. “Maybe when I’m 82 — with a 45-year-old!”
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Carol’s life off screen has long been a fascination to fans. She was married to businessman Patrick King for 10 years before their divorce in 2000 and they have two children, Katie and Cameron. She later had a five-year relationship with journalist Des Kelly. But Carol now has a unique and refreshing philosophy towards relationships and sees partnership as optional, not essential, to happiness.
“There’s this idea that women need a man to travel, to live, to enjoy themselves,” she says. “You really, really don’t. That’s not anti-men — it’s pro-women. There’s a whole world out there and women are reaching for it.”
It’s not only Carol’s approach to relationships that has evolved as she’s moved through the decades. She’s grown in confidence and has got to really know herself – and doesn’t fear being alone. She smiles as she recalls what defined each chapter of her life – her twenties were about fun and freedom, her thirties were about building stability, and her forties and fifties ended up being about upheaval and reinvention. It was when she reached her sixties that everything finally clicked.
“You lose the fear. You genuinely think, ‘I don’t have to apologise any more.’ And that’s a wonderful place to be,” she says. Something she certainly isn’t afraid of is showing off her curves. She is often seen in figure-hugging outfits with cinched-in waistbands. But while cruel trolls have attacked her fashion choices, accusing her of dressing “too boldly” or “too young” for her age, she’s not listening to any of it.
She simply says, “I dress for my body.” Because I have a large bust, I prefer wearing clothes that fit at the waist. Otherwise, you appear larger than you actually are. That is only practical, then. However, because I like it, I’ll wear a short knitted dress with boots and tights.
Carol recalls the time she was labelled “mutton dressed as lamb” in her late thirties — a phrase that dominated headlines simply because she dared to wear a dress that was above the knee. “I was 39,” she says, still incredulous at the memory. “There were front pages about whether a woman of that age should wear a short dress. The BBC literally did a show about it. You think, ‘Who is even asking that question?’”
It’s those very moments that Carol believes shaped the way a generation of women felt about their bodies and ageing. The concept of “growing old gracefully” is patronising and absurd to Carol. “What does that even mean?” she asks. “Grey hair, elasticated waistbands and disappearing? Define it. Because for me, growing older means being more visible, more confident and more myself.”
Carol tells us that despite the many challenges that come with menopause, it eventually brought her clarity. She’s spoken openly about suffering severe hormonal depression during perimenopause, but says the period that followed was a huge turning point.
She explains that “when you come out the other side, it’s like a phoenix moment.” You might say, “No, no, I’m not putting up with that any more,” You have always been as low as you can be before rising from there. For the first time in her life, Carol feels genuinely supported by younger generations of women. She claims that her generation now supports what she wants to do, despite having two or three generations behind me. You were resentful of pushing boundaries when I was younger. Younger women are now championing older women who live boldly.
Carol prioritizes her time with her children, and she claims that the way that people have viewed parent-child relationships has evolved since the young children’s birth. She explains that adult daughters now enjoy taking trips with their mothers, socializing together, and treating themselves to equals.
She claims that this has never occurred before. It “participates in the liberation of women.” Carol will return this year to lead the team on the Channel 5 quiz show Celebrity Puzzling, but she is well aware of the importance of juggling both her career and the good things in life.
She admits, “My social life is now non-negotiable, but I used to be addicted to work.” In my calendar, I literally color-code it. Not just coffee, but at least three social events per week are what I need. It’s important to spend time with people. However, there are some projects that are too impossible to ignore, including her fashion campaign for JD Williams, an inclusive brand. It aims to redefine what the term “MILF” means to contemporary women.
This month, Carol seems to be the ideal candidate for the campaign, which it will be. She goes on to say, “I’ve been trying to communicate this message all my life. Give society the least amount of thought when it comes to your reputation. Any age can be used to identify who you are.
Source: Mirror
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