Carol Vorderman's Biography

Carol Vorderman was brought up in North East Wales and attended the Blessed Edward Jones Catholic School in Rhyl. The equations expert in Countdown was inspired by her maths teacher, Mr Parry.

Vorderman went on to study engineering at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. She graduated when she was just 20-years-old with a third.

After leaving college, Carol Vorderman worked in Leeds for an electrical retailer, before auditioning for Countdown.

Carol Vorderman and the show's host the late Richard Whiteley were features of Countdown, which became a phenomenon as the longest-running show on Channel 4.

Carol Vorderman was awarded the MBE for Services to Broadcasting. She has an IQ of 154, and was once voted runner-up in a poll of 'Thinking Man's Crumpet'. Carol has written books about detox diets, including 'Detox For Life'.

Vorderman recommends a strict 28-day detox diet twice a year with a less demanding maintenance diet for the rest of the time.

In November 2004 Carol Vorderman took part in Strictly Come Dancing, but it did not go well. She suffered a torn cartilage during the performance that led to her and her dancing partner Paul Killick being voted off the show.

Vorderman is a patron of the Cleft Lip and Palate Association.

Carol Vorderman has also hosted 'Better Homes' and 'Better Gardens', 'Stars and Their Lives' and during the marathon vote for Britain's Best Sitcom was the advocate for 'Vicar of Dibley'.

Carol came second to Stephen Fry in a Radio Times poll of their readers on whom they thought were the smartest people on TV.

In January 2007, Carol Vorderman split up with sports journalist Des Kelly.

Carol Vorderman is one of the celebrities to feature on series 4 of the BBC's genealogy series, Who Do You Think You Are? in autumn 2007.

In July 2008, shortly after Des O'Connor announced his departure from Countdown, Carol Vorderman announced that she too was leaving Countdown.

She recorded her last episode of Countdown in November 2008 and it was transmitted on 12 December 2008.

In 2010 she published her autobiography It All Counts.

At the Pride of Britain Awards in 2016, a Special Recognition Award was won by Dr David Nott for his voluntary work in Aleppo, and Carol, who was hosting the event, revealed that he had saved her from sepsis.

She said: "Not many people know this but I was rushed into hospital 12 years ago.

“I looked into the eyes of this man, thank the Lord - because I was a matter of hours from death from sepsis.

“David was there in A&E and whisked me off and gave me drugs for a long time to calm me down and he did a very, very long operation on me and I just want to say thank you.”

In November 2016, Carol Vorderman became one of the contestants on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.

She was the fifth celebrity to be eliminated from the show.

In 2023, Carol left her weekly show on BBC Radio Wales, because of wanting to continue airing her views on social media.