‘Sunbathed in space’: Carol Vorderman has revealed that she once took a secret ‘trip’ into space

Carol Vorderman surprised fans on Wednesday when she revealed she took a secret trip into space more than a decade ago. The former Countdown star, 62, who lives in Bristol, took to Instagram to share some interesting snaps and joked that she once “sunbathed in Space” thanks to one of her astronaut friends

The I’m A Celebrity star shared a throwback snap of herself in a bikini, at the time she left planet Earth in a rocket. However, she went on to admit that it was simply a photo that had travelled all the way into space, not herself.

Carol explained that a family friend had taken a photo of her up to the International Space Station, where he then took a photo of the snap with planet Earth as a beautiful backdrop. In the post, she wrote: “In 2010 a friend of mine from NASA was so kind on his trip to the International Space Station and took up a few trinkets for my family including this photo of me.”

“He took a photo of the photo in the ISS with earth behind 🌎 and I treasure it. It means I’ve sunbathed in space. Ha,” she added.

Carol went on to say that her friend has plans to go into space again, and said he will take another special “trinket” for her. She continued: “Cut to 2023 and a beloved astronaut friend of mine (formerly NASA and legendary) is now the Chief Astronaut for Axiom Space.”

“I’m off to see his launch scheduled for November. So he’s said he’ll take something up to the ISS for me this time. I’ve decided to choose a ring…💍 The problem is, I don’t have one!!!,” she added.

She then went on to ask her 348K Instagram followers if they would send her some ideas, as she admitted to being “useless at choosing things.” Fans flooded the comments with compliments praising the throwback snap and sharing their ideas.

One fan cheekily commented: “Well you are out of this world @carolvorders 😍’’ while another wrote “Lucky fella, what a view 🔥.” With a third chiming in to say: “If there’s anything that’s going to attract the attention of Alien life… it’s Vorders in a bikini!”

Other fans were quick to leave their suggestions for what the I’m A Celebrity star should send into space next. Many followers believed that she should choose Welsh Gold or source a ring from a local Bristolian jeweller, whilst others had more amusing or strange ideas, from an onion ring and Haribo ring to a lock of Carol’s hair.

This comes just days after the I’m A Celebrity…South Africa all-star series finale aired, which Carol starred in alongside many other popular campmates from over the years. The spin-off show, which was filmed at the Kruger National Park, saw Carol return to camp after first appearing in the Australian jungle, in 2016.

This series saw Carol narrowly miss out on the final, with Myleene Klass coming out victorious after eating fermented eggs, pig snouts, 60 mouse tails and 40 spoonfuls of stinky tofu, during the last moments of the final face-off trial.