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Carol Kirkwood Says She Cried Off-Camera During 2008 Marriage Breakdown

The BBC Breakfast presenter says work let her compartmentalise grief during her divorce.

Overview

  • Kirkwood recalls leaving the set at the Blue Peter gardens to have a private cry before reapplying makeup and returning on air.
  • She describes keeping a public and a private face, saying that separating emotions from work aided her healing.
  • The broadcaster, a BBC Breakfast regular since 1997, says her 18-year marriage to Jimmy Kirkwood ended without drama in 2008.
  • She remarried in 2023 to serving police officer Steve Randall in a small ceremony at Cliveden House, calling the day perfect despite Storm Gerrit, with the couple writing their own vows and having no guests.
  • Kirkwood says meeting Randall felt like a sliding-doors moment after they first connected as friends, adding she was happily single, later praising him as very romantic, generous and a lovely man.