Stars offer 'respect' to Carol Vorderman after leaving BBC show

Stars including Alan Carr and Joe Lycett are among those offering "respect" to presenter Carol Vorderman, who left her BBC Radio Wales job after her criticism of the government on social media broke BBC guidelines.

Presenter and comic Carr wrote "big respect Carol" on Instagram.

Comic Lycett joked: "I have informed the BBC I am available to replace you."

Drag Race judge Michelle Visage wrote to ex-Countdown star Vorderman "adore you endlessly" while presenter Cat Deeley added: "You are brilliant."

Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies said: "Onwards to the future! Love you Vorders!" while actress and writer Denise Welch added several "flexed biceps" emojis.

Olympian Dame Kelly Holmes added: "You do you Carol! Much respect for sticking up for who you are and not allowing corporations to silence you!" while broadcaster and podcast host Elizabeth Day called Vorderman "a legend".

Ant Middleton, ex-instructor on Channel 4's SAS: Who Dares Wins, wrote: "When your work wants to control your social life, that's when it's time to say bye bye. Good on you Carol."

Vorderman has almost 900,000 followers on X, and her previous posts include one on Saturday that said: "This iteration of the Tory Party needs to be utterly dismantled at the next election."

On the same day, she commented on a post from Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who said she and the "law-abiding majority" want to stop people who "cause nuisance and distress" by pitching tents in public spaces.

Vorderman wrote: "What I want to stop, and what the law abiding majority wants to stop is your vile government clinging onto power for a day longer."

After leaving her job, she said in a statement she respected the BBC's new social media guidelines.

"However, despite my show being light-hearted with no political content, it was explained to me that as it is a weekly show in my name, the new guidelines would apply to all and any content that I post all year round.

"Since those non-negotiable changes to my radio contract were made, I've ultimately found that I'm not prepared to lose my voice on social media, change who I am, or lose the ability to express the strong beliefs I hold about the political turmoil this country finds itself in."

After continuing to criticise the current government, she said she had "now breached the new guidelines and BBC Wales management have decided I must leave. We each must make our decisions".

Vorderman joined Radio Wales to host a Sunday show in 2018 before moving to Saturdays the following year.

A spokesperson for the station said: "Carol has been a presenter on BBC Radio Wales since 2018. We'd like to thank her for her work and contribution to the station over the past five years."

The BBC declined to comment further and pointed to Vorderman's statement.

The overhaul of the corporation's social media rules followed an outcry after the BBC's Match of the Day host Gary Lineker posted a comment comparing UK asylum policy to 1930s Germany.

There are now stricter impartiality rules for the hosts of selected "flagship programmes" like Match of the Day, Strictly Come Dancing and The Apprentice.

All BBC staff and freelancers are also "required to respect civility in public discourse and to not bring the BBC into disrepute", the new guidelines say.

Vorderman's Radio Wales show was not on the "flagship" list, and the issue with her posts is understood to have been to do with civility, rather than impartiality.