Carol Vorderman explains how her relationship with 'five special friends' works

Carol Vorderman's reputation for being good with numbers has served her well, as the former Countdown star is happy with having 'five special friends'.

The 62-year-old has been open about her unconventional dating life in the past, and has given further details in a recent interview.

Vorderman has been married twice before - first to Christopher Mather from 1985 to 1986, and then to second husband, Patrick King, from 1990 until 2000.

It was with King that Vorderman had her two children.

She has been single since splitting with journalist Des Kelly in 2007.

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Talking to You Magazine, Vorderman spoke highly of her 'system' in which she has five lovers.

Vorderman said: "Oh yeah, yeah, my 'special friends'.

"I'm continuing with that system and it's working very well."

Vorderman's five lovers aren't 'one night stands', which the broadcaster rules out, but long-standing partners.

In the recent interview, she explained: "One's been a friend for 11 years, one for seven. My kids [Katie, 31, and Cameron, 25], know most of them."

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All of Vorderman's partners are single, and she claims she wouldn't mind if they met somebody else.

Vorderman said: "'I'm not a jealous person and I'm happy when my friends are happy, whether they are 'special friends' or not.

"The goal of my life is to be happy, not to be in love. I just find people interesting and life interesting.

"And you can get to a stage where you choose which bits you enjoy. You can't in your 30s because you're making your way in your career, you're beholden to bosses and all those sorts of things. But in your 60s..."

Vorderman had previously been open about her dating life whilst appearing on the This Morning couch in January.

At the time, she said: "It's come about naturally and I don't want to settle with anyone.

"Everyone is single. It starts with friendship and there is an extra frisson."

When asked by Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield if jealousy ever factored into the dynamic, Vorderman denied that it was an issue: "They have their lives as well, I never ask about that."

Since being open about her open relationships, the former I'm A Celebrity campmate has admitted she has received an interesting response from other women.

Vorderman said: "I spoke a couple of months ago about having 'special friends' and it was like, again, the world had fallen in for some people but actually what I found was there was an awful lot of women who said 'I'd never thought about it like this'."

Words: Ben Thompson

Topics: Entertainment