Carol Vorderman talks to Gaby Huddart about
friends, family and being judged for wearing tight-fitting frocks.
Carol, 51, best known for co-hosting
Countdown for 26 years, is now a co-anchor of ITV1 chat show Loose Woman, as
well as the presenter of The Pride of Britain Awards. Away from TV, Carol runs
themathsfactor.com, an online maths school for primary school-age children.
She has also written maths, Sudoku and detox diet books. Twice divorced and
recently out of a long-term relationship, Carol lives in Bristol with her
children, Katie, 19, and Cameron, 15.
“Since I turned 50, I’ve had the best
year of my life, and I now throw as much effort into the social side of my life
as I do work”
My Style, My Way
Carol Vorderman looks stunning at the
Pride of Britain Awards
I have always been pigeonholed, right
from when I was first on TV. When I was on Countdown,
I was seen as the “nerdy” one, and the way I had to dress was quite
conservative – that was the style of the show.
Now the pigeonhole I’m put into has
changed, and I sometimes get absolutedly slated, particularly for what I wear. It’s like when I recently wore a tight-fitting dress to The National
Television Adwards, the reaction in the press was quite hysterical.
To be honest, I can’t help thinking, if
I can cause that much fuss at my age for wearing a dress, well, fabulous! But I didn’t wear it to create a stir – I chose that dress because
I think it’s a nice dress. In my private life, I’ve always liked tight-fitting
outfits. I’ve never felt the need to conform in what I wear – or anything else.
Some of the things I’ve worn look great
and some don’t, but does it matter? I’m not harming
anybody, I’m not doing anything wrong, I’m not stripping off – I’m just going
out and having a good time. How can that be a bad thing?
I’m way past the point of caring what
anyone says about me. But I do think people can be
quite judgemental. I find it quite funny because I would never judge anybody
else for what they wear. I thought “I don’t like that dress”, I wouldn’t
suddently draw conclusions about that person’s morality.
I don’t work really hard with my looks,
but I do try to eat well. I’ve just done a
three-week detox to shed a bit of weight, My problem is that I’ve been
socializing quite a lot with friends recently. And then what happens, when I
get tired, is that I start eating things that I wouldn’t normally crave, like
biscuits, because they’ll give me a bit of energy to keep going.
I haven’t weighed myself for 12 years,
but I know from my clothes I’ve gone up a dress size. It’s so easy to do – and I don’t regret it because I’ve been having
a great time! But I do know it’s time to take myself in hand now.
I’m planning a little rejuvenation for
myself this year. I want to fix the things that
need fixing, I’m quite lazy, but I do want to get fit and start going to the
gym. And I’m about to have my eyes lasered because I’m fed up with wearing
glasses.
There’s all this stuff out there, so I’m
thinking go for it! There are machines that can get
rid of your cellulite, so I want to do that. And my friend has just had a
machine that has worked on her neck and tightened the elasticity of the skin.
You just need a day off work afterwards, so I’m thinking, why not?
I’m a bit frightened of the idea of a
full facelift because, when you look in the mirror, you want to look like
yourself. But I’ll get little things done; I might
have an eyelift if I feel I need one in the future, and the lasers that smooth
your skin – I’m comfortable with the idea of trying all that.
HRT and me don’t get on. About two years ago, I had a form of HRT and went up a whole dress
size in a week, so I stopped it immediately. It’s all about finding what works
for you. I take a lot of supplements – fish oil and other things – and they
keep me felling good.
I’m a Fan of W&H
I love the way w&h celebrates woman
and their diversity. It doesn’t criticize women for not fitting a particular
pigeonhole. It’s full of new experiences and things to do – I’m all for that.
A magazine that embraces and encourages women – bravo!
Single Life
Carol Vorderman, Woman & Home
I am now single – firmly single – and
loving it. I’ve found it suits me. I don’t know if
I’ll ever settle down again; I certainly can’t envisage ever getting married
again. It’s quite funny, people’s reactions to you when you’re single. I think
some people think “poor thing, she must be looking for someone”. Er, no – I
really wouldn’t have it any other way.
My track record with relationships isn’t
great. I got married for the first time when I was
24 and, really, I knew from before we got married that it wouldn’t work. We
were too young.
I had a very good second marriage. We
loved each other very much, and for a long time
were happy. I suppose we had outgrown each other. It happens, sadly, but life
moves on. It’s so important to work at being civil to each other afterwards,
though, for the sake of the children and for your own inner peace.
If I could change anything, I wish I
could live my forties again because I’d have done somethings very differently,
which would have had a big effect. If I had my time
again, I wouldn’t spend the time that I did with certain people.
My girlfriends are so important. There are about ten of us who hang out together in Bristol. We go
walking a lot, drink coffee, do lots of talking. Sometimes we have a bit of
booze and just laugh our drawers off! Particularly when my mum’s with us round
the table, we can end up crying with laughter – she’ll forget to wear her
hearing aid and misinterpret some of the things we’re talking about, which is
very funny.
My best friend Mandy and her two teenage
boys are about to move in with me. It’ll make life
easier for her because she lives out of town and her husband is away with the
army in Afghanistan. I’ve known her for five years – we met when I moved to
Bristol, as our boys are at the same school. She’s an extraordinary person and
I’m so proud of her – she’s just had her first novel, Poppy Day,
published.
I’m with my mother everyday and we’re
very close. She’s 84 now and living in a flat near
me in Bristol. She’s a great role model – her positive outlook on life is
amazing. Even when I was a child – my father left us when I was three weeks old
– and we were very, very poor, she was always happy; the glass was haft full.
We’re ridiculously close as a family. My sister Trixie, who’s ten years older than me, live in north
Wales but comes down to stay about a week each month, and we text and email all
the time.
I’m very proud of my brother Anton,
who’s seven yeas older than me and lives in Holland. He was born with a cleft palate and double cleft lip, and has had
to endure 24 operations over the years. He has never once complained and has
put his time and knowledge into helping others. He established the European
Cleft Organisation and puts money into it, providing so much help to those in
Eastern European countries. It’s because of Anton that I support the Cleft Lip
& Palate Association here – it’s a tiny charity but so important.
