Carol Vorderman has shed some light on the early days of her friendship with Baroness Mone before they fell out. The former Countdown whizz had a public spat with lingerie mogul Michelle, who she then "dropped like a stone" following a PPE contracts scandal.
A few years on, Clifton-resident Carol, 62, has opened up about how she forged a friendship with Michelle more than 10 years ago on James O’Brien’s Full Disclosure podcast, The Express reports. "Well, let’s talk about Michelle. I'll tell you what it is," Carol said.
"If I introduce you to someone, 'Oh, this is my friend, who’s got this amazing company…', you'd take that at face value because you respect my judgement, right?"
Read more: Carol Vorderman hits out at troll offering to take fans on £600 coffee date
Carol continued: "So, at that time, or a year later, I started introducing the Loose Women show on ITV - I was in London all the time, and they gave you an allowance for a hotel because I lived in Bristol. So I started staying in The Dorchester and I would top up, and that’s my choice.
"And I was doing other work as well. And she was staying there at the same time.
"So, you're a single woman, you go downstairs to the bar and that’s where it sort of began. It lasted about, I'd say 18 months maybe - something like that. I won’t go into detail but I just realised, 'Woah, I don't want to be seen with this person'."
Interrupting, James said: "And then all this stuff started emerging."
"Many years later," Carol clarified. "That was 2011."
When James asked the maths genius whether she was taken aback by their falling out, she replied: "No, not surprised at all."
Following on from their quarrel, Carol has taken aim at her former friend Michelle on a number of occasions, including recently, on This Morning. Presenters Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary asked This Morning regular Gyles Brandreth and Carol for their views on Rod Stewart's rant on Sky News recently, when he demanded "change the bloody government" during an outburst about the state of the NHS.
After Gyles gave his thoughts, Carol fumed: "I cannot talk about useless PPE without also talking about Michelle Mone, who was brought into the House of Lords, as a baroness, by David Cameron."
The mum-of-two recalled that Michelle had been accused of profiting from money that may have been made via PPE contracts, a claim which has been refuted by the lingerie tycoon. At the time that the claims were made, Michelle's office released a statement that read: "With immediate effect, Baroness Mone will be taking a leave of absence from the House of Lords in order to clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her."
Just last week, Carol appeared to throw shade on Matt Hancock as she addressed rumours that she had been "cosying up" to the former health secretary and his aide-turned-partner, Gina Coladangelo. Carol was on the terrace of the Royal Box at Cheltenham Festival when the couple arrived, and Matt thanked her for her work raising awareness of dyslexia.
Whilst Carol set the record straight in a video posted to Twitter, she exaggerated the final syllable of the MP's last name. Carol was a hot topic of conversation last week, as some had alleged she was having an "affair" with Gareth Gates - another claim she has refuted - as the pair were spotted sharing a laugh together.
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