Carol Kirkwood — things you didn't know about the BBC weather presenter

Carol Kirkwood has been presenting the weather on BBC Breakfast since joining the team back in 1998.

Excitingly, Carol has just announced that she's got married to her partner, policeman Steve Randall. Posting, "Thank you so much for all your lovely messages. We had the most perfect day. It was a tiny wedding but so romantic and intimate. A day we will never forget. We are bursting with happiness."

But while we might be used to seeing her on our screens as we drink our tea and eat our toast, what do we really know about the woman who helps us make our wardrobe choices each morning? 

Carol Kirkwood comes from a big family 

Carol Kirkwood, born Carol MacKellaig, was born in Invernesshire, where her parents ran a hotel. She is one of eight children and attended Lochaber High School in Fort William before going on to Napier University in Edinburgh, where she gained a BA in commerce. After leaving university she joined the BBC's secretarial reserve in London, which led to small roles on BBC Radio Scotland, Radio 2 and Radio 4.

She has been on holiday in the past with her BBC colleagues

While you might think that spending all day together at work might mean the BBC Breakfast presenting team would be sick of the sight of each other, the truth is actually very different. Carol once told express.co.uk: “I go on holiday with Sally Nugent and Steph McGovern each year. And now Dan Walker has joined us — he is such a honey!”

Carol became a weather presenter by accident

Although we couldn’t imagine waking up to anyone else presenting the weather each morning, Carol has revealed she fell into being a weather presenter by chance. After contacting the BBC about being a Blue Peter presenter when she was 12, she was told that she needed to come back to them when she had a degree. But after leaving uni Carol applied to be a BBC secretary instead. Fast forward a few years and she was asked to audition for a new presenting role by an old friend — and she got the job! 

She lives life in the fast lane...

Instead of putting her feet up on her days off, Carol enjoys singing, dancing, fishing, travelling, learning to ice skate for charity and driving fast cars! When she does put her feet up for five minutes, the meteorologist can be found snuggling up with a good book. In fact, she is not only an avid reader, she is now a published author with several books...

In 2021 Carol published her debut novel, "Under a Greek Moon", the story of an actress who returns to a Mediterranean island to escape a scandal and has to face the consequences of a deep secret. Her friend and ex-colleague Steph McGovern called it "an absolute cracking read". The novel became a bestseller and she has since penned "The Hotel on the Riveria" and "Secrets of the Villa Amore".

She wouldn't wear a miniskirt

Despite looking glam and polished every morning on TV, Carol has body hang-ups just like the rest of us. She told tv.bt.com: “I think you should wear what you like if it suits you. I wouldn't wear a miniskirt now because I don't like my legs. I'm also conscious of my arms when I do the weather because I spotted them wobbling as I flicked my hand up towards Scotland the other day, so now I move my arms very slowly and gently if I have to point northwards!”

She's no plans to leave BBC Breakfast

Carol has confessed she loves her BBC Breakfast job so much that would never consider leaving. She told mirror.co.uk: “I’d never give up the weather on Breakfast. If they showed me the door I would hang on by my fingernails! So, as long as Breakfast want me, I’ll be there because I love it.”

Carol gets saucy fanmail!

You might think that people like to get in touch with Carol to tell her how much they enjoy her presenting the weather, or to ask where she got a dress that she was wearing from, but the presenter also gets mail of a more saucy kind! She told tv.bt.com: “I never know what to say when people ask me about the pictures, but it is true. I don’t think I’m the only person. I think lots of people get them. It’s not just me. I find it a bit embarrassing. I find talking about it even more embarrassing!”

Carol doesn't dance any longer

Carol competed in the 2015 series of Strictly Come Dancing (making it to week seven with her pro partner Pasha Kovalev), but in 2020 she was hit by a car when out cycling in Berkshire — and the accident has left her permanently scarred.

She told The Independent: "I'm permanently scarred. I've also lost some of the feeling in my knee in places, and I have permanent damage to my thumb joint and scarring to my elbow..."

Carol was off work for three weeks after the accident.