Stars offer 'respect' to Carol Vorderman after leaving BBC show

Presenter and comic Alan Carr wrote "big respect Carol" on Instagram

Alan Carr and Joe Lycett are among the stars offering "respect" to Carol Vorderman, who left her BBC radio show after her criticism of the government on social media broke BBC guidelines.

Vorderman said she was not "prepared to lose my voice on social media", and managers "have decided I must leave".

Carr, who hosts BBC One's Picture Slam and Interior Design Masters, wrote on Instagram: "Big respect Carol."

Lycett joked: "I have informed the BBC I am available to replace you."

He is known for using comedy to publicly challenge politicians, celebrities and companies like Liz Truss, David Beckham and Hugo Boss.

Michelle Visage, who presents a weekly show on BBC Radio 2 and is a judge on BBC Three's Drag Race UK, wrote to ex-Countdown star Vorderman: "Adore you endlessly," while presenter Cat Deeley added: "You are brilliant."

Vorderman said she didn't want to stop voicing "the strong beliefs I hold about the political turmoil this country finds itself in"

Russell T Davies, showrunner of BBC One's Doctor Who, said: "Onwards to the future! Love you Vorders!" while actress and writer Denise Welch added several flexed bicep emojis.

Olympian Dame Kelly Holmes added: "You do you Carol! Much respect for sticking up for who you are and not allowing corporations to silence you!" Broadcaster and podcast host Elizabeth Day called Vorderman "a legend".

Ant Middleton, ex-instructor on Channel 4's SAS: Who Dares Wins, wrote: "When your work wants to control your social life, that's when it's time to say bye bye. Good on you Carol."

• Vorderman leaves BBC show over anti-government posts

• BBC flagship presenters get new social media rules

Vorderman presented a weekly show on BBC Radio Wales for five years, but said she had fallen foul of the corporation's new social media guidelines.

Her recent posts on X have said the current Conservative Party "needs to be utterly dismantled at the next election" and that she wants to stop the "vile government clinging onto power for a day longer".

After her announcement on Wednesday, she thanked her 896,000 followers "for your overwhelming support".

"Just bowled over by it," she wrote. "You're so wonderful, genuinely thank you. I'll now increase calling out this disgusting Tory govt with facts & data which the right wing media fails to publish."

Joe Lycett formerly hosted The Great British Sewing Bee for BBC Two

Earlier, she said in a statement that she respected the BBC's updated guidelines.

"However, despite my show being light-hearted with no political content, it was explained to me that as it is a weekly show in my name, the new guidelines would apply to all and any content that I post all year round.

"Since those non-negotiable changes to my radio contract were made, I've ultimately found that I'm not prepared to lose my voice on social media, change who I am, or lose the ability to express the strong beliefs I hold about the political turmoil this country finds itself in."

After saying she had decided to continue to criticise the government, she said she had "now breached the new guidelines and BBC Wales management have decided I must leave".

Why did she break the rules?

A BBC spokesperson said: "Carol has been a presenter on BBC Radio Wales since 2018. We'd like to thank her for her work and contribution to the station over the past five years."

The overhaul of the corporation's social media rules followed an outcry after the BBC's Match of the Day host Gary Lineker posted a comment saying that the language in which the UK's asylum policy was set out was 'not dissimilar' to that used by Germany in the 1930s.

There are now stricter impartiality rules for the hosts of selected "flagship programmes" like Match of the Day, Strictly Come Dancing and The Apprentice.

All BBC staff and freelancers are also "required to respect civility in public discourse and to not bring the BBC into disrepute", the new guidelines say.

Vorderman's Radio Wales show was not on the "flagship" list, and the issue with her posts is understood to have been to do with civility, rather than impartiality.

Correction September 24: This article was edited to reflect that Gary Lineker had not compared the UK asylum plans to 1930s Germany but had posted a comment saying that the language in which the UK's asylum policy was set out was 'not dissimilar' to that used by Germany in the 1930s.