Carol Vorderman Biography: Carol Jean Vorderman, MBE RAFAC HonFIET born 24 December 1960 is a Welsh broadcaster, media personality, and writer. Her career in media began with her role on the Channel 4 game show Countdown, where she appeared alongside Richard Whiteley from 1982 until his passing in 2005, and later with Des Lynam and Des O’Connor, before departing in 2008. During her time on Countdown, Vorderman also began hosting shows on ITV, including How 2 (1990–1996), Better Homes (1999–2003), and The Pride of Britain Awards (1999–present). She has guest-hosted various programs, such as Have I Got News for You (2004–2006) and The Sunday Night Project (2006). Additionally, she was a presenter on the ITV talk show Loose Women from 2011 to 2014. Vorderman has participated in reality shows like Strictly Come Dancing (2004).
Carol Vorderman Biography 2025
Carol Jean Vorderman, MBE RAFAC HonFIET is a Welsh broadcaster, media personality, and writer. Her media career began when she joined the Channel 4 game show Countdown, appearing with Richard Whiteley from 1982 until his death in 2005, and subsequently with Des Lynam and Des O’Connor, before leaving in 2008.
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Born: 24 December 1960 (age 63 years), Bedford, United Kingdom
Spouse: Patrick King (m. 1990–2000), Christopher Mather (m. 1985–1986)
Vorderman was born on Christmas Eve, 24 December 1960, in Bedford, Bedfordshire. She is the youngest of three children born to a Dutch father, Anton Vorderman (1920–2007), and a Welsh mother, Edwina Jean Davies (1928–2017). Her parents separated shortly after her birth, and her mother moved the family back to Prestatyn, Flintshire, North Wales, where Vorderman grew up with her siblings. She did not see her father again until she was 42. After her mother remarried in 1970, they separated ten years later. Vorderman’s father also remarried, but his wife passed away in the early 1990s. She attended Blessed Edward Jones Catholic High School in Rhyl and started studying engineering at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, in 1978. She graduated with a third-class degree, which she has described as “disappointing.” Vorderman only discovered her father’s involvement in the Dutch resistance during World War II in 2007.
Vorderman began her professional career as a junior civil engineer at Dinorwig Power Station in Llanberis, Wales, and later worked as a graduate management trainee in Leeds. In her spare time, she briefly performed as a backing singer with Lindsay Forrest in a Leeds-based pop group called Dawn Chorus and the Blue Tits, which was fronted by radio DJ Liz Kershaw in the early 1980s. The group recorded a version of The Undertones’ hit “Teenage Kicks,” which Vorderman later had to identify during her appearance on Never Mind the Buzzcocks in December 2009. From 1984 to 1985, she made regular appearances on the Peter Levy show on Radio Aire, reading stories for preschool children. In the mid-1980s, she worked part-time in the Information Services Department of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, primarily producing in-house video programs.
English television personality who became known for hosting the game show Countdown. She also hosted the program Loose Women, which first aired in 1999.
Before Fame
She began her career after replying to a newspaper advertisement for the show Countdown.
Trivia
She has also been a presenter on the long-running show Daybreak.
Carol Vorderman is a practicing Catholic. She first married in 1985 at the age of 24 to Christopher Mather, a Royal Navy officer, but their marriage lasted only a year. Her second marriage was to management consultant Patrick King in 1990 when she was 30; they had two children together, Katie (born 1992) and Cameron (born 1997). The couple separated in 2000. After meeting at a Christmas party in 1999, Vorderman lived with Des Kelly in London starting in 2001, while also spending time at their home in Glandore, West Cork, Ireland. They separated in December 2006, publicly announcing their amicable split in January 2007, though they briefly reconciled in Bristol afterward.
