Carol Vorderman speaks out after step back from Pride of Britain duties ‘I’ll be a wreck’

Former Countdown legend Carol Vorderman, 59, began presenting the Pride of Britain Awards in 1999. For the first time this year, she will not get the chance to meet all the participants on stage, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Carol went on to say she will be “a wreck” watching the heroes, who have acted bravely in challenging situations.

She explained: “This year I’ll be watching it as a viewer.

“It will be strange and that’s why I know I’ll be in absolute buckets. I’ll be a wreck. I’m really sad I can’t be with everybody.

“I would have been quite happy going round and spending two months giving out all of the awards myself. But that’s not the best programme and I’m not allowed to do that.

“Normally I see everybody and go and meet people during the year, privately, not for the telly.”

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Carol will still be on hosting duties, however current coronavirus-related rules mean winners will not be able to attend the ceremomy.

Instead, a series of stars have been surprising winners all over the country for the most ambitious Pride of Britain show yet.

The former Countdown star went to visit some of the show’s previous winners from over the years before the coronavirus pandemic.

She added to The Mirror: “I was doing that last Christmas, looking back on 20 years of Pride of Britain and going to see some of our past winners – and I’m really glad we got to do that before ­coronavirus kicked in.

“It was lovely to see what people had done over those years and I’m still in touch with some of them now.

“All of them are such positive people – no matter what their circumstances might be. If people who have been through.”

The presenter went on to say choosing the selected winners for the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with TSB, was harder than ever as more people stepped up during the pandemic.

Carol said her and her colleagues received 85,000 nominations, adding: “It was quite extraordinary and wonderful.”

“More people have stepped up. We’ve had more time to do things. And in my lifetime – and I’m 60 this year – I’ve never known anything like this, where there are restrictions and you constantly have to ask questions that you’ve never had to ask before.

“But millions of people were trying to do their bit, whether to help their street or their family, and we did have that period of total lockdown which brought out the best of us,” she continued.

In the same chat, Carol discussed how she had coped through lockdown and the ongoing pandemic.

While she admitted it had been tough getting used to social distancing restrictions, she said had been happy watching her children succeed.

Carol’s son Cameron moved to Aberdeen to do his Masters Degree, while daughter Katie is a research scientist.

She continued: “I am still happy because both my kids are doing really well and my son Cameron has done really well, in spite of the fact of going to special school and having learning difficulties.

“He’s in an amazing headspace and that’s wonderful as a mum – particularly as a single parent – after years of struggling really, to get him to this point.

“You say to yourself, wow, and you can’t underestimate the work that’s gone into that. But that overrides everything else for me. I am so proud.”

The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with TSB, will be broadcast on ITV on November 1st at 9pm.

source: express.co.uk