'I'm very competitive'

Carol Vorderman tells us about being a team captain alongside Sally Lindsay on Jeremy Vine's fiendish new quiz show

- WORDS: LAURA CARRENO-MÜLLER

She was the undisputed queen of Countdown for 26 years, but Carol Vorderman's elegant TV persona didn't last long on Celebrity Puzzling.

"At first, I thought I'd be very gracious and allow my fellow guests to answer the question so the world can see how clever they are," Carol, 64, says. "But after about half an hour, the genteel lady aspect went out of the window. I'm very competitive."

It didn't go unnoticed by host Jeremy Vine, who fronts the eight-part series on 5.

"During the final round, Memory Bank, Carol had a technique that I'm still trying to work out," he says. "But the look of concentration she had - it was like Roger Federer!"

In this new show, Jeremy plays quizmaster and referee as team captains Carol and actress Sally Lindsay take on mind-bending mental puzzles alongside a rotating cast of celebrity guests.

In each episode, a fresh pair of famous faces join the fray - Gareth Malone and Ore Oduba start us off, with Scarlett Moffatt, Stephen Bailey, Melvin Odoom, Miles Jupp, Dom Joly and more queuing up to take on the challenge.

Jeremy says he found himself dying to join in.

"I quickly realised that as the quizmaster you feel locked out," he says. "You can't shout the answer out. That's the price you pay for watching these competitors do battle."