Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Carol Vorderman reveals her ‘female equivalent word’ for the term ‘player’

Vorderman, 62, said she’s enjoying being in ‘no-strings attached’ relationships with her ‘special friends’

Maanya Sachdeva
Sunday 15 January 2023 13:13 GMT
Carol Vorderman opens up about long Covid struggle

Carol Vorderman has made up her own “female equivalent word” for the term “player”, the TV presenter recently revealed.

The former Countdown host opened up about exploring a “freer” way of dating in a new interview, claiming that “it was b******s” that women are told to find a man and settle down.

In conversation withThe Sun, Vorderman, 62, said she’s enjoying being in “no-strings attached” relationships with men she calls her “special friends”.

She told the publication: “I’m not going to tell you all the details, but one of my ‘friendships’ has gone on for 11 years. And I have one ‘special friend’ in America.”

The media personality has been married twice, with her second marriage to management consultant Patrick King ending in 2000 – after 10 years together.

She continued: “But I’m happy living my life that way. The people involved are also very happy about it. That’s between us, it’s nothing at all to do with anybody else.

Vorderman, who shares two children with King, also said she came up with her own word to describe women who engage in shorter, more frequent, and casual romantic relationships.

She explained: “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].”

Vorderman said she has no regrets over her romantic decisions, adding that she has a “full, happy, exciting, and adventurous life”.

“I think many people are living that life but are too frightened to say,” she continued. “There are a lot of fresh divorcees coming into their 50s and the majority wouldn’t want to get married again.”

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in