Carol Vorderman declines to say how many ‘special friends’ she has: ‘I’ve got enough’

The TV star is known for speaking candidly about dating multiple people

Carol Vorderman has deftly avoided answering just how many “special friends” she has in her life.

The TV personality, 62, has previously opened up about dating multiple people, but declined to reveal the exact number of “lovers” that she juggles. It comes after she revealed in January that she had five “special friends” who she is romantically involved with, but it is unclear if that figure has changed.

In a new appearance on Kathy Burke’s podcast Where There’s A Will There’s A Wake, Vorderman was asked directly how many people she was seeing.

“Well, I don’t like to say really,” she replied demurely. However, she added: “Well, enough. I call them special friends. I’ve got enough.”

While the former Countdown co-host remained tight-lipped about the number, Vorderman did open up about the kind of relationships she has now, after the end of her second marriage, which was to Patrick King.

Vorderman and King were married for 10 years and share two children, Katie and Cameron. However, they divorced in 2000, which the Welsh broadcaster has previously described as a “regret of mine”.

She told Burke: “I’ve been married, very happily married, and then suddenly it wasn’t and we had two lovely children and all of that. But I don’t want to be in a relationship because I love my life. And I love my mates and you know, my son and I live together and I don’t have time for it.

“So, I’ve only time for the nice bits. If you do no harm, you can do what the hell else you like, without apology, I say.”

Vorderman added: “I’m living [my life] without apology. And it is full. And every day is an interesting day.”

Carol Vorderman attends the races at Sandown Park Racecourse on March 07, 2023 (Getty Images)

Before her marriage to King, Vorderman married Christopher Mather in 1985 but they split up after just 12 months together.

She once quipped that the marriage was doomed because she had performed Geri Halliwell’s hit song “It’s Raining Men” on their wedding day.

Explaining how she got changed into a “sheer outfit” for the evening portion of the day, Vorderman told BBC Radio Wales: “I got on the stage and I sang this [song] at my wedding and I was then dragged off by my husband and the marriage didn’t last long, so here we go, it’s raining men and you can understand his reasons.”

Earlier this year, Vorderman gave her advice on how to maintain dating relationships with multiple people.

Speaking on This Morning in January, she said everyone involved has to be single, which is “critical” to make things work.

Her main rule when it comes to dating several men is to “do no harm”, adding: “It starts with friendship and there is an extra frisson.”

She also revealed the “female equivalent word” for the term “player” that she likes to use. Vorderman told The Sun: “In the past, you’d be called horrible words as a woman. A man is a ‘player’, but there is no female equivalent word. So I’ve made one up. I call it ‘Boada’, which is like ‘Boadicea’ [the warrior queen of the ancient British Iceni tribe).”