Carol Vorderman is back on our TV screens as she shoots Bushtucker Trials in I’m A Celebrity South Africa.
And the TV favorite, 62, shows no signs of slowing down as she returns to Have I Got News For You later this month.
As her career goes from strength to strength, Carol has been open about her unconventional love life and the reasons why she will never remarry.
Here’s a look at her personal life – from her two divorces to her five special friends and her close relationship with her two children…
Romance: Carol Vorderman is back on our TV screens on I’m A Celeb South Africa – here we take a look at her love life from marriages to her five special friends
FIRST LOVE
Carol’s first marriage was at the young age of 24, when she tied the knot with Christopher Mather in 1985.
The TV star and naval officer didn’t last long though, as they parted ways just 12 months after walking down the aisle.
In 2018, Carol joked that the marriage was doomed from the start, after she performed It’s Raining Men on her wedding day.
Young love: Carol’s first marriage was at the age of 24, when she tied the knot with Christopher Mather in 1985
Speaking on BBC Radio Wales, Carol explained: ‘When I first got married, not very successfully… this could be why…
“So we got married during the day and had the standard reception and then there was an evening.
“I changed into a see-through outfit, like you see on Strictly Come Dancing these days, and it was loaned to me by the girls on Three, Two, One.”
Laughing, she recalled, “I got on stage and I sang this [song] at my wedding and then I was dragged away by my husband and the marriage didn’t last long so here we go, It’s Raining Men and you can understand his reasons.”
SECOND TIME
Four years after divorcing Christopher, Carol married her second husband, Patrick King.
She remained married to the management consultant for ten years and they welcomed two children, Katie and Cameron.
However, the couple separated in 2000, with Carol citing their divorce as one of her biggest regrets.
Tie the knot: Four years after her divorce from Christopher, Carol went on to marry her second husband Patrick King (pictured together in 1999)
She told Woman Magazine: “I never said why my marriage broke up and we agreed never to talk about it in public.
“I regret the divorce and my mother thinks we should have stayed together.”
Sadly, she admitted, “He’s remarried now, so there’s no chance of us getting back together.”
“If my career hadn’t taken off like this, Paddy and I probably wouldn’t have broken up.”
The experience put her off marriage for good, as she later said, “I never want to get married again.”
RELATIONSHIPS
Love life: In the early 2000s, she met Des Kelly at a Christmas party and they began a long-term relationship together (pictured together in 2004)
Age difference: Carol then dated Graham ‘Duffy’ Duff, who was 14 years younger than her (pictured 2013)
Despite her reluctance to walk down the aisle again, the Countdown star continued to date.
In the early 2000s, she met Des Kelly at a Christmas party and they began a long-term relationship together.
Carol and Dec lived together, splitting their time between London and West Cork in Ireland.
However, after six years together, the couple finally went their separate ways in 2006.
Carol then dated Graham ‘Duffy’ Duff, who was 14 years her junior.
The TV star and Red Arrows veteran dated for four years and then had a brief breakup in 2015 before flaring up again.
Despite trying the relationship again, Carol revealed that they called it quits the following year.
She told the Mirror in 2016: ‘I’m happily single, quite independent and do my own thing.’
Carol added, “I’m not against dating someone 10 years younger, it’s acceptable. But Duffy was 14 years younger – that was a bit silly, actually.’
Relationship: The TV star and Red Arrows veteran dated for four years and then had a brief breakup in 2015 before rekindling (pictured in 2013)
‘SPECIAL FRIENDS’
Single and happy: Carol recently appeared on Michelle Visage’s Rule Breakers podcast and recently revealed she has five ‘special friends’
Appears on Michelle Visage’s Rule breakers podcast, Carol recently revealed she has five “special friends” while discussing the ‘system’ she’s had for the past 10 years.
Carol gave a very candid insight into her complicated love life, saying that she “isn’t into one night stands,” but she dates several men whom she affectionately refers to as her “special friends.”
When asked by Michelle if she was in a relationship, Carol joked, “No! I’m having the best time. I’ve talked about this once. I have a system that I have had for 10 years. They are called ‘special friends’.
“I talked about having ‘special friends’ a few months ago and it was like, again, the world had come crashing down for some people, but what I found was that there were an awful lot of women who said, ‘I never thought about it like this”.’
Carol added that she’s been in “long-term relationships, if you will” with her special friends — and has dated some of them for years.
She said, ‘One is 11 years old, the other is seven years old, you know everyone is single. It’s a happy place. I hasten to add that I don’t like one-night stands.’
“The language around a woman of my generation is that if you had more than one partner when you got married, you were this, you were that. Everything was derogatory about a woman, that was the environment I grew up in. It was like ‘she’s desperate,’ everything was judgmental.”
Carol continued, “Well you can take all that and you can throw it out the window, that’s my polite way of putting it.”
“But no harm is done. It is a nice place to live. The only thing that sold me when I was young was a fairy tale about a poor girl meets a prince, they get married and they live happily ever after.’
“That whole assumption, ‘Do you already have a partner? Do you have a husband?’ Well, no, actually I have five.’
Michelle responded by calling the math a “legend.”
Carol has previously spoken of her many “special friends,” including an astronaut who “calls her from the space station.”
She said on This Morning, “I live my life in chapters, and you said and this chapter since I was about 50. So for the past ten years I have lived a life that is much freer.
‘I’ve never felt so free. So I’ve ignored the search for one person and I have some of what I’ve called “special friends.”
She continued, “I don’t really want to get married again. I don’t really want to live with a man again. Have to take care of him all the time. But this is a time to break this nonsense taboo which is that a person should only look for one other person who fulfills everything in their life. That’s hell.’
Adding her ‘special friends’ Carol explained: ‘They don’t know each other, but they know about it. It’s a very honest relationship.
“One of them has existed for many years longer than my marriage. Yes, it’s been more than 10 years. Another is seven. He’s an astronaut. He called me from the space station.
CHILDREN
Children: Carol has two children Cameron and daughter Katie, 32, from her marriage to Patrick King. The couple separated in 2000 after 10 years of marriage
Family: Earlier this year, the star flew to Jordan to celebrate Cameron turning 26 and took to Instagram to share a glimpse of the celebrations
Carol has two children Cameron and daughter Katie, 32, from her marriage to Patrick King. The couple separated in 2000 after 10 years of marriage.
Earlier this year, the star flew to Jordan to celebrate Cameron turning 26 and took to Instagram to share glimpses of the celebrations.
Carol shared a rare video of family life and gave Cameron a kiss on the cheek when he was presented with a delicious cake.
Cameron has high spectrum autism, ADD, dyslexia and ADHD.
Carol and her son appeared on This Morning where they discussed how difficult school was for him due to his special needs.
When he was labeled “disruptive” at school, Cameron explained, “That was the whole thing. Being disruptive… it was in a math class. You panic so much that you have to keep the rhythm with the rest. If I can’t answer it fast enough, you’d be inconvenient for not being able to answer.’
Carol shared how protective she felt for her son in his younger years, saying, “As a mother, as a single parent [you want to] protect, protect, protect. Like a lioness.’
She added: “I didn’t want him growing up with labels,” before saying there were “early signs” of her son’s learning difficulties, explaining that while her eldest child Katie “could easily learn the alphabet,” Cameron ‘could not hold information’.
Carol explained that Cameron needed “huge help” and was “bullied as a kid.”
Of his own experience, Cameron said, “If I had the opportunity to go back in time and change my life at school – there wasn’t a single day more than neutral in terms of fun because of the bullying – I wouldn’t change that.” because it taught me how to deal with life.’
Cameron went on to earn a top-notch master’s degree in Animation and Video Effects from the University of Dundee, saying of the achievement, “I never thought I’d get this far.”