“I’m Much More Confident Now I’m Older”: I'm a Celebrity's Carol Vorderman On Why She’s Loving Life Over 50

Carol Vorderman has something to get off her chest. “Everybody thinks once you pass 50 you become some sort of wizened old has-been, but I’m here to tell you that you don’t!”

While many women struggle with hitting the big 5-0, the 55-year-old broadcaster sees it as something to celebrate. And why shouldn’t she? With a hugely successful career spanning more than 35 years (and counting) and a degree in engineering from Cambridge University, the former ‘Countdown’ presenter, now 'I'm a Celebrity' contestant has a lot to be proud of.

So, who better to give us the skinny on a career well spent? From the strong work ethic her humble childhood instilled in her, to the hurdles she’s leapfrogged, Yahoo Style UK caught up with Carol before she was dropped into the Australian jungle to find out the life lessons she’s learnt on her continuing career ascent…

Well prepared is half won. That’s something my mum always taught me. What she means is that nothing happens on a whim even though it is sometimes seems like it. You have to work hard for things. I’m such a workaholic. I was literally born with a strong work ethic. I have always been hungry to be successful and I think that’s a great psychological advantage.

Be open to change. You might think you want to do something as a career, but it’s vital you’re open to change. Everything will change at some point, so you have to be adaptable. Particularly nowadays. When I was growing up people used to want to have jobs for life, but now there’s no such thing. We’re all fundamentally freelancers. Nothing is forever.

“Much as it may appear to be strange now, I never wanted to be famous”

Try to keep things in perspective. When you get to my age you can look back on things with a much calmer view. Because, without wanting to sound too much like a Gloria Gaynor record, you’ve ridden the ups, the downs and you’ve survived. But when you hit something for the first time, whether it’s a big high or a big low in your career, it seems much bigger. It seems like an enormous mountain to climb or a canyon to cross. But actually it isn’t.

If your life takes an unexpected path, roll with it. Starting on ‘Countdown’ wasn’t something I’d planned. My mum had written in and forged my signature. It was a baptism of fire, but I grew to love it. And it gave me the confidence to know I could take other things on. I’ve always been one to dig deep. I’ve had my own production company, I was a producer. I wasn’t content to just be a talking mouth.

Do things for the right reasons. Much as it may appear to be strange now, I never wanted to be famous. You get a lot of kids now who just want to be on the telly because they’re craving fame. Whereas I was the opposite, I’ve never wanted that. It was a job, it’s a career, it’s a profession, that’s how I’ve looked upon it. So I’m quite different to a lot of celebrities. If I didn’t go on the telly again, then that’s fine. It’s not part of my psyche.

Celebrate your successes. When I started on TV there were only four channels. There wasn’t even daytime TV as such. So ‘Countdown’, much as people think of it as a sort of oldie worldie show, broke many records. And broke down boundaries in broadcasting. It was the first ever show shown on Channel 4, I was the first woman to appear on Channel 4, it was the first time a quiz show had been stripped across the week. It was the first quiz show in an afternoon slot and it was Channel 4’s biggest show, even including primetime, for about 15 years.

Always try to take a positive out of a negative. Sometimes I had to fight to get jobs because people would promise you a job and it wouldn’t appear. Sometimes people try to do the dirty on you, sometimes you’re made a scape goat. When those sorts of things happen, and they will happen to everyone at some point, you just have to get on and cope with it.

Don’t take no for an answer. My daughter, Katie and I are both Cambridge graduates. I went in 1978 and she went in 2011. I went at a time when almost everyone was from a public school, but I wasn’t. It was only the third year they took girls into mixed colleges and now all the colleges are mixed. When I did engineering only 2% of the intake were girls, now 15% are girls. I wanted to join the air squadron, but I couldn’t because they didn’t take girls until the 90s. So a lot has happened in 30 years thanks to my generation because we wouldn’t take no for an answer. And we’re still not taking no for an answer. We’re a feisty generation and that’s why things are changing for us.

“I think my generation has learnt that we can and should do what we like. If I want to have long hair in my 50s then I will have long hair”

Make your own rules. When I was 39, I wore a blue mini dress to the BAFTAs and it was front page news for weeks. Should a woman of 39 wear a mini dress? Well you wouldn’t even question that today would you? I think my generation has learnt that we can and should do what we like. If I want to have long hair in my 50s then I will have long hair. I’ll choose whether I wear a short dress, depending on whether or not my legs look good enough, in my view, not in somebody else’s social etiquette rule book. We’ll make our minds up thank you very much. We won’t be told.

Embrace getting older. When you get to my age, you really do know who you are. You know who you want to be around, or the type of person you want to be around. There is very little peer group pressure, so you don’t think ‘oh I should do this’ or ‘I should do that’ because you think ‘I can’t be bothered.’ You learn to say no.

“When you get older and are independent you can be a bit more selfish”

Let go of the guilt. Now that my children are older I’m not beholden to the school run. As soon as you have children you’re beholden to somebody else’s schedule. And that’s not a complaint it’s just a fact. So if you want to do anything that’s against that schedule you feel guilty about it. But when you get older and are independent you can be a bit more selfish. Because we’ve spent decades being unselfish.

Only listen to people whose opinions you respect. You can do a lot of damage to yourself by listening to too many people. I don’t read any comments online. I do think there is an unhealthy element to all that. It’s given a lot of people who have nothing to say a platform to say it on. I was brought up more in the school of have a good night’s sleep, forget it and move on.

“I’m much more confident now that I’m older”

Know that age brings confidence. I wouldn’t say I’ve become more body confident, just more confident in general. The ridiculous thing is there are millions of girls in their 20s walking around thinking “my bottom’s fat”. But actually what they don’t realise is the days of wine and roses are not long. If only they knew how fantastic they look in their 20s.

Carol Vorderman is supporting P&G’s “women of a CERTAIN age” campaign and has been announced as the face of Victoria.co.uk, a site dedicated to celebrating a new generation of timeless women.

[All Photos: David Fenni]

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