Carol Kirkwood’s ‘Last Day at BBC’ Sparks Panic as Beloved Star Breaks Silence on Exit Rumors
Carol Kirkwood has been forced to address rumours that she’s leaving the BBC. The beloved 62-year-old presenter joined the BBC Weather Centre in 1998 and has been delighting viewers on BBC Breakfast for over two decades. During that time, she’s become a national treasure – who could forget her infamous “dogging” blunder? – and never fails to put a smile on the faces of her viewers.
However, Carol seemed to fall victim to a savage April Fool’s Day prank on Tuesday (April 1) as a fake Instagram account falsely stated it was her “last day” at the BBC. The account, which seems to claim to be Carol’s, posted a snap of the star alongside the caption: “Very sadly, the last on the Beeb” alongside sad emojis.
Luckily, the real Carol was quick to rubbish the claims and reassure her fans that she wasn’t bidding farewell to the BBC. Taking to X, formerly Twitter, she shared the fake account’s photo of her and told followers she had nothing to do with the profile, telling Daily Star.
She wrote: “A friend just sent me this from Insta! This account has nothing to do with me…. and it is not my last day at the BBC xxx” Fans were relieved, with one writing: “Thank goodness it’s not true!!! X” Another commented: “Glad to hear it Carol XXX,” and a third said: “Phew! Looking wonderful, Carol. Xxx.” A fourth added: “Thank God for that.”
Carol’s BBC Breakfast co-star Matt Taylor, who stands in for Carol on Breakfast, couldn’t help but see the funny side of it. “Good,” he penned, “as it’s my day off tomorrow and I was hoping for a lie in [wink emoji] [laughing emojis]”.
Carol was having a giggle herself as she replied with laughing emojis. “I assume it is their idea of an April Fool’s,” suggested one viewer, to which the forecaster replied: “I think that is probably the case, Martin x”.
Back in 2023, Carol spoke about her future retirement from Breakfast and admitted that it’d be nice to retire from weather presenting and focus solely on her writing. Carol is the author of four fiction books, including Under a Greek Moon (2021) and her latest, Once Upon a Time in Venice (2024).
She told Prima Magazine: “It’ll be nice to retire one day and focus on my writing.” She explained: “At the moment, I have two careers running in parallel and they’re both full-time, so it’s time-consuming. But I also love both of them and, if you want something done, ask a busy person. I can’t imagine I’ll be doing the weather when I’m 90, though!”
The Scottish presenter also revealed how she now cares less about what people think of her. “I feel no pressure whatsoever about how I look,” she told the outlet. I’m just into my 60s, but I think the positive is that you care less about what people think of you.
“You hear people’s opinions, but you don’t take them on board as much as when you’re younger,” Carol announced her engagement to partner Steve Randall back in 2022, live on BBC Breakfast. The pair tied the knot in Cliveden, Buckinghamshire, on December 2,7 2023.
The forecaster has worked for BBC Breakfast, BBC News, BBC World News, BBC News at Six, The One Show, and on BBC Radio 2 and Radio 4 during her BBC career. She once appeared in an episode of Hollyoaks, in a cameo role as a weather presenter.