Carol Vorderman rose to fame thanks to her mathematical abilities on Countdown, which she appeared on from 1982 to 2008. The small screen favourite said she got a “shock” when she was first called in to meet producers, having never worked in television before. However, the 58-year-old was relieved to discover it wasn’t like a traditional screen-test despite them having received “thousands of applications”. She said she was quickly offered the job after three maths questions, thanking years of “puzzling” for her skills.
Writing for the Daily Mail, Carol revealed how it had been her mother who had sent off her CV to TV bosses after spotting a newspaper ad for Countdown.
She commented: “The first shock was when the phone rang and producer John Meade asked me to come in for an audition, which — to my relief — turned out to be not so much of a screen-test as a maths test. The producers, it must be said, were getting desperate.”
The mother-of-two continued: “Countdown was due to start filming and, though they had thousands of applications, they’d found no one who could do the number game fast enough.
“The sums, made up of numbers picked out blind by contestants, were foxing everyone.”
She said during her “test” she solved the first sum “instantly” saying: “As soon as the numbers came up, I could literally ‘see’ the solution.”
Carol then added: “The second example was the same. The third was trickier, but I had an answer within five seconds — and the job.
“All those years of maths against the clock and puzzling had paid off. And I believe that puzzles can pay off for everybody.”
The presenter starred in the daytime hit up until 11 years ago, working alongside Richard Whiteley.
She is believed to have been offered the main host role following his death in June 2005, but turned it down.
Des Lynam went on to replace him, followed by Des O’Connor two years later.
On leaving, Carol said in a statement: “I am devastated that my joyous time with one of the best programmes on TV has ended this way.
“I was happy to continue doing the numbers and letters for years to come. I wish all of my friends and colleagues every success in the future. I’ll miss them all,” the Telegraph reported at the time.
She went on to work on the likes of Lorraine, Loose Women, Food Glorious Food before taking part in I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!.
Meanwhile, it comes just days after Carol Vorderman vented online after getting locked in a toilet.
The TV personality complained about electric doors, branding them “stupid” on Twitter.
Countdown airs weekdays at 2.10pm on Channel 4.