Carol Vorderman, 61, opened up about her dating life and admitted that she has ditched the idea of marriage in favour of "freer" and "less pressurised" relationships – a topic that divided her followers.
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The former Countdown presenter has been married twice. Carol's first wedding was in 1985 when she was just 24 to Royal Navy officer Christopher Mather, but the couple went their separate ways after twelve months together. In 1990, she tied the knot with management consultant Patrick King and the pair welcomed children Katie and Cameron. She recently admitted they had an "incredibly happy marriage" before they divorced in 2000.
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Carol appeared on This Morning with Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary on Friday, where she explained how she has taken a different approach to relationships in this chapter of her life.
"Since I was about 50, so for the last decade or so, I've lived a life that is much freer. I've never felt freer. So I've ignored looking for one person and I have what I call a number of special friends," she began, which was met by an outpouring of praise and excitement from Alison.
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The Countdown star opened up about her dating life on This Morning
Carol continued: "There will be people watching that think, 'Oh, what she does is [judgemental noise].' They have negative connotations towards women, and there shouldn't be, because younger generations have a much freer approach to sexuality."
She explained her rationale further in an Instagram post which read: "I wanted to break one of the last taboos where women of my generation and others have been told that we need to marry and then live 'happily ever after'.
"The facts speak differently. Half of first marriages end in divorce. Around 2/3rds of second marriages end in divorce. They all begin with hope and then sadly end. There is another way for this modern world where the majority of women work.
"Life is one of chapters in my humble opinion. For those who have found traditional monogamous love and it’s lasted for decades then I can only offer you honest congratulations.
Carol and her first husband Christopher Mather
"However, there are different kinds of love and relationships. I have never felt freer since I’ve said I don’t want to marry again and am happier with a small number of special friends, all of whom I’ve known for a long time. There are different kinds of relationships and a less pressurised one is one which suits many of us. It’s just that society has said we can’t talk about it. Well stuff that."
Carol finished by thanking her followers for the "overwhelming" positive response, adding that "many famous people" have reached out and said they live a similar lifestyle. Praising her honesty in the comments section, one wrote: "Sad that we even have to justify it," and another penned: "Absolute icon."
Many shared their own experiences, including one who remarked: "Inspirational as always Carol. I am so happy to be out of my miserable (for 20 outta the 30 years) marriage. It's so good to be unashamedly true to yourself x."
However, the sentiment was not shared by all with some voicing their support for marriage. "It's very easy to give up on marriage these days. Not everyone is up to the task and it takes a love of the ages. But it is worth it, speaking after 22 years so far," one wrote.
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