Carol Vorderman

“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.”

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

“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.”

“We all have, in my family, what we call the 'Vorderman bottom' - a sticky out, bigger-than-normal, signature, of the rear variety. It's been a family joke all our lives - even my lovely brother has one. I know the lines to all the good singalong big bum songs.”

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

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

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

“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 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.”

“Change is one of my favourite words.”

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

“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.”

“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.”

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

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

“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.”

“Since I turned 50, I've had the best year of my life and I now throw as much effort into the social side of my life as I do work - more so now than ever before.”

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

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

“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.'”