|
|
|
|
| Birth Name(s) : Carol Vorderman |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
|
Partner:
|
| Profession:
N/A |
| << Add Carol Vorderman To Your Favorites |
|
Full Carol Vorderman Biography
Carol Vorderman MBE (born 24 December 1960, Bedford) is a UK television personality best known for being a long-standing co-presenter of Channel 4 game show Countdown. She was awarded an MBE in June 2000. Vorderman is known for her accomplished arithmetic skills, although critics note that she obtained a third class degree in Engineering and has used her fame for being 'good with numbers' to advertise a loan company.
Vorderman was born in 1960, to a Dutch father and Welsh mother. Her parents broke up three weeks after her birth in Bedford. Vorderman attended the Roman Catholic comprehensive Blessed Edward Jones High School and refused to meet or have contact with estranged father until January 2002 when (according to the Daily Mail) she relented and the two were reconciled. She did not trace the Dutch side of her family until 2007, as part of the BBC genealogical programme Who Do You Think You Are?. It was only at this point that she discovered that her father had been an active member of the Dutch resistance during the Nazi occupation. Her father died during the filming of that programme.
In 1978, she was accepted by Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge to read Engineering. She was a member of the "Nines Club" at Cambridge, so-named because members achieve a third in each of their three years of study (3+3+3=9). Her Countdown co-star Richard Whiteley coincidentally achieved the same class of degree at the same university.
After graduation, her mother's second marriage had broken down, and the family were back in financial difficulties. Vorderman found work as a graduate management trainee, but it was her mother who noticed a newspaper advertisement asking for a woman with good mathematical skills to appear as co-host on a quiz show for the fledgling fourth terrestrial channel. Vorderman's mother duly submitted an application on behalf of her daughter .
Vorderman has worked as a researcher and producer on many shows, specialising in science and educational programmes, and went on to present numerous other television programmes including the BBC's Tomorrow's World, but was dropped after she starred in a commercial for washing powder. BBC management claimed it was a conflict of interest and dismissed her from the show. Months later, she asked to return to anchor the programme but was refused.
In 1999, having been offered a lucrative contract, Vorderman moved to ITV, going on to present numerous television programmes including: The Pride of Britain Awards since year 2000, Stars and their Lives, What Will They Think of Next, Tested to Destruction, How 2 on CITV and the popular Better Homes, which began in 1999 and spawned a spin-off Better Gardens. She was awarded an MBE in June 2000 for services to broadcasting.
Vorderman was a newspaper reviewer on the last episode of Breakfast with Frost. In 2004 Vorderman appeared on the second series of Strictly Come Dancing and was voted off the show on the second show of the series. In 2005, Vorderman beat the other celebrities in ITV's Gameshow Marathon, winning the series.
Vorderman appeared as a guest on Have I Got News For You on 14 May 2004 and hosted the show on 26 May 2006. She presented the Channel 4 entertainment show The Friday Night Project on 11 August 2006.
She has written books on Detox diets. Her No 1 Bestseller was Detox For Life published by Virgin Books which sold over a million copies. She is also a self-described sudoku addict since April 2005 when she wrestled a book of the puzzles from her 12-year-old daughter Katie during a holiday in the Caribbean. Vorderman has written numerous books of sudoku puzzles with help on how to tackle them. She has sold millions of sudoku books worldwide in less than a year, with almost one million being sold in the UK alone.
She was criticised in the British press for "growing old disgracefully" after appearing in revealing dresses at several awards shows and other media events. In 2003, Vorderman commented harshly on fashion gurus Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine, after they had called her an "overdone Eighties nightmare" and placed her in their list of the 20 worst-dressed celebrities.
Adding further to the criticism about "growing old disgracefully", recent images of Carol show that she appears to have had plastic surgery and this has been reported in the press. |
|
|
| Add Carol Vorderman Biography (SuperUSERS) + |
| Add Carol Vorderman Review/Comment
|
HQ Carol Vorderman Pictures (1) | Random Carol Vorderman Picture
|
| << Back to the Carol Vorderman Homepage |
|
