Carol Kirkwood Opens Up on Toyboy Husband and Life After BBC
Former BBC weather presenter Carol Kirkwood, 64, says leaving the broadcaster in April has been "liberating". She spoke about her marriage to retired police officer Steve Randall, 13 years her junior, plans for travel, and why she will not have plastic surgery.
Carol Kirkwood has opened up about her so-called toyboy husband and life after BBC Breakfast. The former weather presenter, 64, left the BBC in April and says she does not miss the job.
"Leaving the BBC has been liberating," she said. "I am finally dancing to my own tune and have so much more freedom."
Marriage to Steve Randall
Kirkwood has been married for three years to Steve Randall, 51, a retired police officer. The age gap between them is 13 years.
"It's not something I think about," she said. She recalled people asking what will happen when she is 85 and he is 72. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Anything could happen in the next 15 to 20 years."
With no work constraints, she said, the couple can now go anywhere. That could be as simple as jumping in the car and driving to Scotland or France.
Kirkwood said she always wanted children, but she and her first husband could not have them. She says that does not stop her loving the life she has now. She and Randall want to enjoy small pleasures such as a walk, gardening or a meal he has cooked.
Fitness and a TV wish
Both are fit, Kirkwood said. Randall completed the Marathon des Sables through the Sahara desert in 2014.
She would like them to take part in Celebrity Race Across The World together. Randall would handle the logistics, she said, while she would manage the budget. "He would have to dig me out of all the toot shops full of fridge magnets," she joked.
Her health is pretty good, she said, and she is careful about what she eats. She still has a glass of wine, and she had just eaten a white-chocolate cookie before the interview.
No plastic surgery
Kirkwood said she would not have plastic surgery and sees nothing wrong with growing old. "Each age brings something different, and I've got so many lines on my face," she said, adding that many are laughter lines.
She said she was not judging anyone who chooses it. "Each to their own, though... But for me, it's a no."
She also said she has grown in confidence. "I used to worry what people thought, whereas now I think: 'You're entitled to that opinion, just as I'm entitled to mine.'"
Work on her own terms
Since leaving, Kirkwood says she has not really missed presenting the weather. She said this summer was extraordinary and it would have been interesting to be part of the meteorology behind it. She remains in touch with former colleagues.
Other work keeps cropping up, she said, and she can now choose what she takes. At the BBC, she had to get permission to do extra work. "Now, I'm my own boss," she said.
