Fearne Cotton

And whilst I was writing this book, I was thinking about women who I think have broken the mould and don't care so much whether they're liked or disliked and don't play by the rules.

And I say the word rules with inverted commas because they're not real, they're bullshit.

But the ones that we all so dutifully

follow to be a woman who doesn't cause a scene or make a fast, et cetera.

And one of the people I wrote about in the book was Carol Vorderman, because to me, she is the epitome of someone that just does life her way and also breaks the mold.

She has the biggest IQ.

She's done so much for education in the UK and continues to get people curious about maths, but also politics.

more recently, and she also happens to wear tight leather trousers, big belts, and have an amazing body, and people don't seem to like that.

People love to give her shit about the fact that she looks a certain way, but is really clever, like the two things can't be true.

Which is so mad.

So I wrote quite a bit about Carol Vordman in the book and basically ended that section by saying, we should all be more Carol.

And I have to remind myself of it constantly because I do still worry too much about what people think about me or what I'm wearing or what I look like or whatever.

And I don't think Carol cares at all.

I think she's a bit of a guiding light for many of us.

And actually, if you listened to the episode of Happy Place we did recently with Ashley James, you will have heard that Carol Vorderman is a mentor.

I think that's the sort of official label that they've given it.

She's a bit of a mentor for Ashley and has really helped her navigate talking about politics on TV and how to navigate criticism being in the public eye.

And also is probably just a very good mate to have great chats with, like a very solid soundboard.

Lucky Ashley.

So that's why, well, they're some of the reasons I wanted to have Carol Vorderman on the podcast.