Carol Kirkwood has opened up about the gruelling early morning starts that made her BBC Breakfast role 'torture' during winter months, after leaving the programme in April following 28 years. The weather presenter, 62, admitted she threw her alarm clock in the bin the day after her final broadcast on 1 April.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Kirkwood revealed she had to set her alarm for 2:45am every day for nearly three decades. 'It's not too bad in the summer but the winter months are torture,' she said. 'For years now, I've suffered from a low-grade version of jet lag.'
Despite the challenges, Kirkwood insisted she had no real complaints about her career. 'I'm not a nurse on a cancer ward. I'm not a first responder who has to run into a fire rather than away from it,' she said. 'I've loved my job but I love my husband more, and now I want us to be more than ships that pass in the night.'
Kirkwood married Steve Randall in 2023, and said one of the main reasons for leaving BBC Breakfast was to spend more quality time with him. Reflecting on her first marriage to Jimmy Kirkwood, which ended in 2008 after 25 years, she said: 'Sadly, my first marriage unravelled after 25 years. I never thought it would happen and I never thought I'd find happiness again. Then I met Steve… Whoever said that love is lovelier the second time around got it dead right.'
Looking ahead, Kirkwood said she wants to spend 'undiluted time' with Steve and tick off destinations from her travel wish list, including the Italian Lakes, Route 66 across America, Graceland, Nashville, Dollywood, and a return to Australia to visit her nephews.
In her final broadcast, Kirkwood thanked viewers for their loyalty, saying: 'You've been the constant in all of this and I've never taken you for granted.'
