BBC weather presenter Carol Kirkwood has revealed that behind her radiant on-screen smile were years of private heartbreak and tears hidden from the public eye.
The 63-year-old broadcaster, who has been a familiar face on British television since 1997, recently opened up about her emotional struggles following her 2008 divorce from Scottish property developer Jimmy Kirkwood — the man she was married to for 18 years.
Carol recalled that during those painful days, she had no choice but to keep up appearances. “I’d still have to be smiling Carol on-screen,” she told Candis magazine. “I’d come off-air — we broadcast from the Blue Peter gardens in those days — go to the Ladies, have a good cry, and then reapply my make-up before stepping in front of the cameras again. In a funny way, though, it helped with the healing process. I put my grief into a compartment that I kept separate from my work, otherwise I’d have ended up in a puddle of tears.”
Despite her pain, Carol says her job “kept her going” and helped her build a “public face” and a “private face.”
But life had a happier twist in store. In 2023, Carol married former police officer Steve Randall — the man she affectionately describes as “very romantic and very generous.” She joked to PA that she’s “punching above her weight” with her new husband, whom she met by chance at a function neither of them wanted to attend.
Speaking to Saga, Carol said meeting Steve was pure fate. “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.”
Their bond deepened naturally, and when Steve proposed, Carol admitted she was still “shocked,” even though they had discussed marriage before. The pair tied the knot in a private ceremony at Cliveden House in Buckinghamshire, writing their own vows and choosing to have no guests — something Carol described as “perfect.”
Reflecting on their home life, she said: “I offered to sell my house so we could buy a place together, but he’s happy living here. He’s a keeper. He’s a very good cook and tidier than I am.”
After decades of keeping Britain updated on the weather through sunshine and storms, Carol now looks forward to retiring in a few years — with plans to travel across Europe with her beloved husband by her side.
