Carol Vorderman Quotes

The photoshoot glitz and TV studio make-up isn't the real me. I spend most days at home in Bristol in jeans and a T-shirt running around after the kids or shopping in the Co-op.

I cannot do the piece-of-talking-meat thing, the 'Here's your money, wear a pretty dress and take the cheque.' I'm not made that way. I have to be as good as I can be at whatever I do.

I would put belly laughing at the top of my highlights list. They always say that laughter is the best medicine.

I loved doing 'Countdown.' I now consider that I was very, very lucky - not just because it was such a wonderful show to do, but because it lasted for so long.

I was away a lot on 'Countdown' when the children were young and I couldn't have done it without Mum's help. Because she was at home running all of that, I never had to worry about them.

My bottom is so big it's got its own gravitational field.

My first marriage was totally unsuitable and shouldn't have happened. It was a whirlwind, rebound thing. I was 23 or 24 - a baby.

I would never say never to marrying again but for the time being I'm having a great time.

I'd be happy to stay single now because I've always been in relationships. For the first time ever I can do what I want, when I want, with who I want, without answering to anyone.

The first couple of days on the detox diet aren't pleasant.

Turning 50 changed me and I'm far more accepting of myself. I'm not thin, but I am a size 10. I go in at the middle and very much out at the bottom and top. And now I think, 'Well, that's how I am.

The photoshoot glitz and TV studio make-up isn't the real me.

I've never once heard my mum shout and she's 83 now. She's incredible. She's very, very happy, slightly eccentric but loves laughing, which I do too.

I drive a tiny Toyota iQ. I'm quite frugal and often cut my own hair.

I'm terrible as I never take my make-up off at night, which I know is really dreadful. Whenever I'm out partying I just can't be bothered and now I am on 'Loose Women' that tends to be all the time. I hope next year holds even more parties for me.

I'm a bit frightened of the idea of a full facelift because, when you look in the mirror, you want to look like yourself.

I can't be bothered to go to the gym, though. I honestly just can't be bothered - it's the most boring thing on Earth. I have tried and every six months I go 'right, I'm going to the gym'. Then I do it for two weeks and get so bored by it.

The divorce is a regret of mine and my mum thinks that we should have stayed together. He's now remarried so there's no chance of us getting back together.

Change is one of my favourite words.

One day Mum saved up for this exciting new thing - a frozen chicken. She cooked it on the Sunday and we all sat around waiting for it, but there was a terrible smell from the kitchen. She didn't realise that the giblets were in a plastic bag inside it. We just ate vegetables and she cried and cried.

If you're from a poor background, you have to work even harder. But that's what makes you who you are.

For now I'm building up stories for the retirement home!

Next year, I hope there will be even more parties, lots of holidays and just having a good time, really. Plus wing-walking, air shows and learning to fly, as they are all things I want to do. I won't be restricted by age.

I'm very pleased how my children have turned out.

There was a great strain in our family because my father didn't want anything to do with me. He was happy to see my brother and sister, but not me. I don't know why. Maybe it was shame. I don't know. But he never wanted anything to do with me. That rejection was terribly hurtful and it went on for years.

Ruby Wax has basically ruined my career. You'll see when you watch the programme. I get more intimate with Ruby than I've ever been with another woman.

I have had stalkers over the years. The police deal with it but it is very scary. One man kept turning up where we filmed 'Countdown in Leeds,' which was scary. It was sad as he'd been sectioned and thought I was talking to him through the TV.

All I wanted to do was put together one of the best home maths systems in the world, and that's what we've done. I've loved numbers since I was two or three, and I get really excited about them. Now, I'm allowing myself to get excited about things. If you're doing it for a TV network or any major corporation, you have to put a lid on it a little.

When I get tired, I start eating things that I wouldn't normally crave, like biscuits, because they'll give me a bit of energy to keep going.

My commitment is to my kids and my mum and I'm having a whale of a time.

Once you have children it's love without bounds. You would die for them in an instant, without question. How can you better that?

My father was having an affair with a 16-year-old when Mum was pregnant with me. She found out when I was three weeks old and left, not surprisingly.

Everything has to be organised for kids in London - you can't just walk three roads to see a friend.

How you look has become ridiculously disproportionate to what you do. Critics are more harsh on female presenters.

After 30 years of television, I want to play more than I used to.

More than 55,000 men from Bomber Command lost their lives, of whom 38,000 were British. That's one in 10 of all the British servicemen lost in the Second World War. It beggars belief that there has not been some recognition for what they gave until now.

I do need my independence. I have to have that.

Most people have the wrong idea about me because I've been very private.