There was a great strain in our family because my father didn't want anything to do with me. He was happy to see my brother and sister, but not me. I don't know why. Maybe it was shame. I don't know. But he never wanted anything to do with me. That rejection was terribly hurtful and it went on for years.

Called Carol Vorderman's Overseas Homes Ltd Carol Vorderman saw the company as a natural extension of her own experiences in buying and selling properties over recent years and was aiming at a target market of "families aged 35 plus". Her parents separated three weeks after her birth and her mother took the family back to her home town of Prestatyn North Wales where Vorderman and her siblings Anton and Trixie grew up in a one-parent household. Vorderman did not trace the Dutch side of her family until 2007 (as part of the BBC genealogy programme Who Do You Think You Are?).

Vorderman is a member of Mensa with an IQ of 154. Carol Jean Vorderman MBE (born 24 December 1960) is a British media personality best known for co-hosting the popular game show Countdown for 26 years from 1982 to 2008. Since February 2013 Carol Vorderman has presented Food Glorious Food on ITV.