Carol Vorderman has declared she feels no need to apologise for how she lives her life, sharing her refreshingly open views on relationships, ageing, and self-confidence in an exclusive new interview.
A New Philosophy on Love and Partnership
The former Countdown star, now 65, discussed her current perspective on romance, stating she has "no desire to settle down right now." With characteristic wit, she added, "Maybe when I'm 82 — with a 45-year-old!"
Vorderman, who holds an engineering degree from Cambridge, was married to businessman Patrick King for a decade until 2000, and later had a five-year relationship with journalist Des Kelly. She is mother to two children, Katie and Cameron.
She now views partnership as entirely optional for happiness. "There's this idea that women need a man to travel, to live, to enjoy themselves," she said. "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."
Finding Fearlessness in Her Sixties
Vorderman explained that reaching her sixties has been a liberating chapter. "You lose the fear. You genuinely think, 'I don't have to apologise any more.' And that's a wonderful place to be," she revealed.
She reflected on the defining phases of her life: her twenties were for fun, her thirties for building stability, and her forties and fifties involved upheaval and reinvention. It was at 60 that everything "finally clicked."
This confidence extends to her style, despite facing criticism from online trolls. "I dress for my body," she stated practically, noting her preference for waist-cinching outfits. "But if I want to wear a short knitted dress with boots and tights, I will — because I like it."
She recalled being labelled "mutton dressed as lamb" in her late thirties for wearing a dress above the knee, an experience she found absurd. "What does 'growing old gracefully' even mean?" she asked. "For me, growing older means being more visible, more confident and more myself."
Fronting a Campaign for Fearless Living
Carol is now the face of fashion brand JD Williams' new campaign, "Midlife Is Living Fearlessly," which aims to spark a debate and redefine the word 'MILF'. The campaign features six real midlife women in lingerie.
"It's a message I've been trying to put across all my life," Vorderman said of the campaign's ethos. "Pay as little attention as possible to what society says about you. This is about owning who you are — at any age."
She also spoke about the transformative effect of menopause, describing a "phoenix moment" of clarity after a difficult perimenopause. "You think, 'No, no, I'm not putting up with that any more.'"
Now, she prioritises her social life, colour-coding at least three plans a week in her calendar, and cherishes the modern, equal relationships she has with her adult children. Professionally, she will return as a team captain on Channel 5's Celebrity Puzzling this year.
Vorderman feels a new wave of support from younger women, a shift from her own youth. "I've now got two or three generations beneath me who support what I want to do... Now, younger women champion older women living boldly and that's huge."
