Carol Vorderman is, rather appropriately for a mathematician, currently in her prime. The former Countdown presenter has lately enjoyed an unexpected late renaissance as the kind of fearless public figure she arguably couldn’t have been when she was younger: politically engaged, unembarrassed and trusted to speak up on issues ranging from financial probity in government to menopausal health, with all the authority born of having lived a bit. (Vorderman had severe depression herself in her early 50s, and was audibly incensed when the equalities minister, Kemi Badenoch, dismissed calls to outlaw workplace discrimination on the grounds of menopause, comparing the idea to seeking legal protection for having ginger hair.)
Unlike her fellow broadcaster Gary Lineker, she isn’t politically constrained by working for the BBC. But perhaps more importantly, at the age of 62, Vorderman is evidently experiencing something of a personal liberation. Her two children have grown and gone, and her elderly mother – whom she looked after for years – has died. Twice divorced, the presenter is gloriously unabashed about maintaining a roster of what she calls five “special friends” with benefits, instead of seeking a partner to settle down with, and has bought a campervan in which to take herself off hiking and paddleboarding at weekends.
