This article will answer every question you have about Carol Vorderman. Below are some of the frequently asked questions about him.
- What does Carol Vorderman do for a living?
- Who are Carol Vorderman’s parents and siblings?
- What are Carol Vorderman’s interests and hobbies?
- Is Carol Vorderman married or does she have a girlfriend?
- Does Carol Vorderman have any children?
- Where is Carol Vorderman now?
- How tall is Carol Vorderman?
- How much money does Carol Vorderman earn?
- What is Carol Vorderman’s net worth?
N/B: Please read the entire post to have all your questions answered.
Who is Carol Vorderman?
Carol Vorderman is a British media personality, best known for co-hosting the game show Countdown for 26 years from 1982 until 2008, as a newspaper columnist and nominal author of educational and diet books, and hosting the annual Pride of Britain awards. She has written books on detox diets.
Vorderman’s career began in 1982 when she joined Channel 4 game show Countdown. She appeared on the show most recently with Des O’Connor, and previously with Des Lynam, and before that Richard Whiteley (from 1982 until his death in 2005). Vorderman left the show in 2008. While appearing on Countdown, Vorderman began presenting other shows for various broadcasters including Better Homes and The Pride of Britain Awards for ITV, as well as guest hosting shows such as Have I Got News for You, The Sunday Night Project, and Lorraine. Vorderman was a presenter of ITV’s Loose Women from 2011 until 2014.
Carol Vorderman’s Career
Early career
Vorderman initially found employment as a junior civil engineer at Dinorwig Power Station in Llanberis, Wales, and later as a graduate management trainee in Leeds. In her spare time, she was briefly a backing singer with friend Lindsay Forrest in the Leeds-based pop group Dawn Chorus and the Blue Tits, fronted by radio DJ Liz Kershaw during the early 1980s. The group recorded, among other songs, a version of The Undertones’ hit Teenage Kicks (one of the tracks Vorderman had to identify during the “intros round” when she appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks in December 2009 – the series often includes questions from contestants’ pasts). During 1984–85 she made regular appearances on the Peter Levy show on Radio Aire, appearing mid-morning to read a story for pre-school children.
Television career
Countdown
1982–2008
Vorderman’s mother noticed a newspaper advertisement asking for “a woman with good mathematical skills” to appear as co-host on a quiz show for the fledgling fourth terrestrial channel. She submitted an application on behalf of her daughter, then aged 21. Vorderman appeared on Countdown from the show’s inception in 1982 until 2008. Initially, Vorderman’s only contribution to the show was the numbers game, and she formed part of a five-person presentation team.
However, over the following years, the team was pared down, and Vorderman began handling tiles for both the letters and numbers games. Vorderman thus became a new type of game show hostess, revealing her intellectual ability by carrying out fast and accurate arithmetic calculations during the numbers game to reach an exact solution if neither contestant was able to do so. Her lasting success on the show led to her becoming one of the highest-paid women in Britain, ultimately earning her an estimated £1 million per year.
After Richard Whiteley
In June 2005, the producers of Countdown asked Vorderman if she wanted to fill the role of the main presenter vacated by the recently deceased Richard Whiteley. Vorderman declined, and a search for a new presenter began while the show went into a four-month hiatus. In October 2005, Des Lynam replaced Whiteley and co-hosted with Vorderman. In January 2007 Des O’Connor replaced Lynam; Vorderman continued to co-host the show. On 25 July 2008, after 26 unbroken years with the show, it was announced that Vorderman was stepping down from Countdown.
She later said she had resigned after failing to agree on terms with Channel 4 for a new contract, and it was reported that she had been asked to take a cut of 90% from her previous salary, estimated as £900,000. She had considered leaving the show when the show’s original host Richard Whiteley died in 2005 but remained on the show when Lynam took over, and until 2008 when his eventual replacement O’Connor announced he was also to step down as the show’s host. Vorderman and O’Connor both left the show in December 2008.
Vorderman recorded her last Countdown show on 13 November 2008 which was broadcast on 12 December 2008. Both of her children were in the audience, together with many of the previous guests from “Dictionary Corner”. After the prizegiving at the end of the show, Des O’Connor was presented with a bouquet of flowers by the show’s lexicographer Susie Dent, and Vorderman received one from Gyles Brandreth. She was too moved to complete her farewells. A special show, One Last Consonant, Please Carol, hosted by Brandreth and featuring Vorderman’s highs and lows during the 26 years of the show, was also filmed and transmitted just before her final Countdown appearance. After leaving Countdown, Vorderman continued to contribute her column to the British magazine Reveal.
Loose Women
In July 2011, Vorderman and Sally Lindsay were tipped for roles on Loose Women following ITV’s decision to axe Kate Thornton and Zoë Tyler from the program. This was later confirmed, with Vorderman presenting her first live show on 5 September 2011. From September 2011 to June 2013, Vorderman and fellow Loose Women host Andrea McLean hosted two to three shows per week.
However, after the show returned from its summer break in September 2013, she began to host one episode per week, with McLean anchoring the remaining four. On 3 October 2013, it was announced that former Loose Women presenter Kaye Adams would be returning to the show later in the year and Ruth Langsford would join the panel in January 2014. Adams, Langsford, and Andrea McLean hosted the show in rotation, with Vorderman remaining as an occasional presenter on the program, usually presenting one episode a fortnight.
Other television work
Vorderman is the presenter of the annual Pride of Britain Awards, which are televised by ITV. She began hosting the awards when they were first introduced in 1999. In 2004, Vorderman took part in the second series of Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with professional dancer Paul Killick. She was the second celebrity to be eliminated from the show. She guest presented Have I Got News for You in 2004 and 2006 and also presented an episode of The Sunday Night Project.
Vorderman guest presented 15 episodes of Lorraine in 2011. She presented the ITV Food show Food Glorious Food in 2013. In March 2013, Vorderman recorded an ITV gameshow pilot called Revolution. On 29 June 2013, it was announced that the show had been “scrapped” by ITV. In 2016, Vorderman finished in eighth place in the sixteenth series of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! On 7 April 2020, Vorderman appeared on The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake-Off and won.
Broadcast on S4C on 19 April 2020, Vorderman took part in the show Iaith ar Daith (‘Language Road Trip’) and, with the help of Owain Wyn Evans, learned Welsh and completed various challenges in the language. An extra episode, Iaith ar Daith ‘Dolig (‘Language Road Trip: Christmas’) was broadcast at the end of 2020, interviewing each of the celebrities about whether they were still making use of their Welsh and the opportunities they had had to use Welsh during the lockdown.
How Old is Carol Vorderman?
Vorderman was born on 24 December 1960Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. She is currently 60 years old.
Carol Vorderman‘s Family
Who are Carol Vorderman’s parents?
Vorderman’s parents are Anton ‘Tony’ Vorderman (1920–2007) and Welsh mother Edwina Jean (née Davies, 1928–2017). Her parents separated three weeks after her birth, and her mother took the family back to her home town of Prestatyn, North Wales
Does Carol Vorderman have siblings?
Vorderman has two siblings named Anton and Trixie.
Carol Vorderman‘s Education
Vorderman was educated at the comprehensive Blessed Edward Jones Catholic High School in Rhyl. In 1978, when she was 17, she went up to read engineering at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. Vorderman went to Cambridge as one of the youngest women ever admitted at the time. She left with a third-class degree, a result she has described as having been “disappointing”.
Carol Vorderman‘s Husband
Vorderman was first married in 1985 at age 24 to Christopher Mather, a Royal Navy officer, but the marriage lasted only twelve months. Her second marriage was to management consultant Patrick King in 1990 at age 29. Vorderman had two children, Katie (b. 1992) and Cameron (b. 1997), with King; the couple separated in 2000.
Carol Vorderman‘s Children – Kids
Vorderman has two children named Katie (b. 1992) and Cameron (b. 1997).
Carol Vorderman’s Net Worth
Vorderman has an estimated net worth of $10 million.
Height/Measurements
Vorderman’s height is 5 ft 6 in.