The former Countdown host on how her love of puzzles and quizzes led to her Perfect 10 podcast, her hopes for 2024, and her unlikely mission to oust the Tories
Carol Vorderman’s connection to the festive season goes all the way back. She was born on Christmas Eve 63 years ago and owes her first name to that date. “People going, ‘What’s your favourite Christmas carol?’” she says, with an indulging eye roll. “All the jokes come out.” But Vorderman has always loved this time of year, especially in her 30s, when she was married to the management consultant Patrick King (they separated in 2000) with whom she has two children.
“I would always go over the top for Christmas,” she recalls. “When the kids were very small, we’d have five Christmas trees and around one Christmas tree there was a train set that would go through different rooms and make these ding-ding sounds. There wasn’t a thing in the house that didn’t sing: you know, that cactus that would sing or the Santa Claus that would sing. Yeah, I absolutely loved it.”
