Carol Kirkwood on marrying in her sixties and her unique royal photo
The BBC weather presenter says she's not worried what people think about her 13-year age gap marriage.
Image credit: BBC
The BBC weather presenter says she's not worried what people think about her 13-year age gap marriage.
Carol Kirkwood is one of our most loved TV personalities. She’s presented the weather on the BBC since 1998, and competed in Strictly Come Dancing in 2015.
The 63-year-old has published four novels and her fifth, Meet Me at Sunset, is out now. She spoke to Saga Magazine for our September issue about marriage, travel and being the naughtiest auntie.
Meeting my husband Steve was fate. We were at a function neither of us wanted to go to. It was a Sliding Doors moment – if I hadn’t gone, we would never have met.
We chatted, he gave me his number, and ages later, we met for coffee.
Get the next 3 print editions of Saga Magazine for just £1 when you subscribe and enjoy more content like this, delivered direct to your door every month.
He was only a friend before we became involved. I wasn’t looking for a romance – I was happy being single. After a 25-year marriage, I needed to find myself.
I was 61 when Steve and I married. He’d proposed when we were on a riverbank picnic near our home in Berkshire. Although we’d talked about getting married, it still came as a shock.
Our wedding at Cliveden House in Buckinghamshire was the most perfect day. Storm Gerrit was raging outside and we didn’t even notice. It was about us getting married rather than having a big, fancy wedding.
We had no guests and wrote our own vows, which was really emotional. When you are older, you know more what you want
Steve is 50 this year. Other people’s opinions about an age gap don’t matter – I don’t feel he is younger than me. He is so romantic.
On the days I work, he gets up at 2.45am to make me a cup of tea and packs my breakfast. Those thoughtful things mean the world to me, far more than being taken to an expensive restaurant.
I have 15 nephews and nieces and am known as Auntie Callie. One of my nephews says I am his “naughtiest auntie”. I don’t know why!
I’d like to think I am also a kind auntie who will always listen to them.
A highlight of my career was giving a talk about the weather to the late Queen and her WI at Sandringham. I also met King Charles when he was a young prince visiting Lochaber High School in Fort William, where I was a pupil.
Standing in line, we were allowed to take pictures, but my camera jammed. He came over and managed to fix it. I went beetroot red, but I now have a good picture of his nostrils!
Steve and I fell in love with Majorca, which is where we went so I could research my fifth novel, Meet Me at Sunset, about a woman running away from a shattered love affair.
Like all my other novels, it is about escapism. Visual imagery is so important to me. I want to take my reader with me – I can’t do that unless I’ve been there.
Join our newest boutique river cruise ship on an all-inclusive cruise this year, and be a part of her inaugural season.
Our online matching service brings you closer to like-minded people on a site you can trust. Create your free profile today
Dame Prue Leith talks about her secret to staying young and why she’s finally slowing down at 86.
TV’s Dr Hilary Jones on why he wants sweeping reform to modern healthcare.
The actor bids farewell to Downton and looks forward to his starring role in a new West End show.
The TV historian on overcoming a difficult childhood and what it was like to appear on Celebrity Traitors.
The wildlife filmmaker on his close call with a polar bear and why hanging out with lions is less scary than driving in the UK.
The Irish author, 62, on escaping the news through writing, staying sober and scrolling the internet for pretty things.
The actress opens up to Jenni Murray on Saga's podcast Experience is Everything.
