Carol Kirkwood has hailed her ‘blissful’ Christmas wedding to as she returned to the BBC Breakfast studio this morning.
The weather presenter, who tied the knot with her marathon-running police officer husband Steve Randall the day after Boxing Day has heaped praise on her ‘fabulous’ nuptials.
The 61-year-old said this morning she ‘would not change a thing about the day’ and that it was ‘absolutely perfect’ as she seemed in a good mood coming back to work.
She got married to her 48-year-old beau at an intimate and private ceremony at Cliveden House in Buckinghamshire on December 27 after being together for two-and-a-half years.
Carol has been effusive about her new husband, revealing he leaves her romantic love notes and cups of tea at 2.45am before she heads off to work, and described him as ‘funny, gorgeous and, also, he is really kind, thoughtful and romantic’.
Steve Randall, 48, tied the knot with Carol Kirkwood, 61, during an intimate and romantic ceremony at the swanky Cliveden House in Buckinghamshire.
Speaking on her return to the BBC studio on Monday after a two week absence, Carol gushed about the big day when questioned by newsreader Jon Kay.
She said: ‘John I cannot tell you how fabulous it’s been.
‘You shouldn’t really be talking like this about your own wedding but it was blissful, it was romantic, it was absolutely perfect.
‘I would not change a thing about the day.
She lightheartedly added: ‘It was very small as well, and intimate, so you didn’t have to worry that Auntie Nelly didn’t have a glass of sherry in her hand.’
This sparked Jon to joke: ‘Does that mean you had all the sherry?’, leaving Carol a hysterical Carol saying: ‘You know me far too well!’
Carol had tied to knot to divorced father-of-one Steve, who she first met in her 50s, after striking up a friendship with him and getting together in June 2021.
The star previously told Prima Magazine before her marriage that he was ‘always making me laugh’, and she described him as ‘extremely handsome’.
Carol and Steve during a snowy Norway holiday. Steve is a police officer who is 13 years her junior
Carol and Steve on a cruise to Tromsø, Norway. The star has previously said how Steve ‘always makes me a cup of tea before I go to work in the morning, which is very romantic – it’s 2.45am’
She said: ‘I don’t want to say too much about my boyfriend, but I will say that he is very kind and very funny – he’s always making me laugh. And extremely handsome, as well.
‘He always makes me a cup of tea before I go to work in the morning, which is very romantic – it’s 2.45am and he often leaves me a little love note for when I come home from work. That, to me, is worth a million red roses.
‘He is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, without a shadow of a doubt.’
Carol wrote on X on the day of her wedding: ‘It was the most perfect and romantic and intimate wedding. We are both so incredibly happy.’
In snaps from their big day, Carol stunned in an off-the-shoulder gown with a dramatic skirt as she posed for snaps with her husband Steve.
She wrote on social media: ‘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. It wasn’t a ”secret” wedding, just a private one.’
Carol previously confessed she planned to wed Steve in secret before ‘[telling] everyone later.’
Whilst speaking to an audience at Good Housekeeping Live, she admitted that she should ‘get on with it’, adding: ‘I imagine we are just going to go and do it and tell everyone about it later.’
‘Steve came into my life when I was already very happy, I didn’t need a man in my life – but I want him in my life – and that’s the difference.’
Steve has been married once before, like his new wife, having one daughter with his wife of 12 years Nichola Randall.
Carol Kirkwood married police officer Steve over Christmas. Pictured: The happy couple at The Radio Times Covers Party in January 2023
The pair split in 2017, with his ex-partner posting a fateful message on her Facebook page in June that, which read: ‘And now it’s time for me.’
Away from his work as a police officer, he is a dedicated runner and keen amateur athlete.
He upped his challenges by his late 30s, taking part in the South Downs half marathon in 2013 before the gruelling Marathon Des Sables through the Moroccan desert, which was described as the ‘toughest foot race in the world’ in 2014, requiring participants to run 244km over six stages in the baking heat.
The Hampshire-based policeman raised money for cancer charities and the poppy appeal across both races.
Carol announced her plans to get married live on BBC Breakfast by flashing her engagement ring as she reported from the Chelsea Flower Show in May 2022.
Talking to Hello magazine in July 2022 about how her then-fiancé popped the question, she also revealed that the pair knew each other before they started dating.
She described how Steve asked her to marry him as they were enjoying a riverside picnic.
The couple finally went public in February 2023 by attending the star-studded Radio Times Covers Party held at Claridge’s in London, igniting further questions about who Ms Kirkwood was pictured with.
The BBC Breakfast weather presenter revealed her engagement while reporting from the Chelsea Flower Show in 2022
They now live together in Carol’s £2million home in a gated community in Berkshire, on the banks of the Thames. They are believed to have moved in together last year.
One resident of the complex told : ‘Steve and Carol are very popular members of this community. You sometimes see them walking around and it’s obvious that they’re both very happy.
‘They’ve always got time for a chat with us and we’re all really happy for them.’
Carol was married to Northern Irish cricketer Jimmy Kirkwood, who also represented his country playing hockey, from 1990 – when she was 28.
Carol’s shock split from Jimmy was revealed in 2008, but it was not until she starred in Strictly Come Dancing seven years later – when she was partnered with pro Pasha Kovalev – she really opened up about it.
She said: ‘I was married for a long time, and I got married quite young, so it’s nice doing things I have the freedom to do now.
‘If I want to go out to the theatre or go out with friends for dinner, I’ve got that freedom.’