Carol Vorderman explains how she juggles five relationships at the same time

Carol Vorderman has said the reason she is able to be in five relationships at the same time is because she is "not a jealous person".

The 62-year-old I'm A Celebrity... South Africa contestant – who previously revealed she has swapped monogamy for spending time with 'special friends' – has opened up on how she manages to date multiple boyfriends alongside one another.

The former Countdown star told You magazine: "Oh yeah, yeah, my 'special friends'. I'm continuing with that system and it's working very well.

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"I'm not a jealous person and I'm happy when my friends are happy, whether they are 'special friends' or not.

"The goal of my life is to be happy, not to be in love. I just find people interesting and life interesting.

"And you can get to a stage where you choose which bits you enjoy. You can't in your 30s because you're making your way in your career, you're beholden to bosses and all those sorts of things. But in your 60s…"

Vorderman has five 'special friends' which she considers to be "long-term relationships", one of which has been going for 11 years and another for seven.

She added that her children – daughter Katie, 31, and son Cameron, 25 – "know most of them".

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The TV star previously revealed one of her multiple boyfriends is an astronaut and is away on a space station for long periods of time.

Vorderman has said she was throwing the traditional fairytale "myth" of living 'happily ever after' with one man "out of the window".

She said: "The 'special friends' system, even though it might seem quite shocking to some people now, won't be in 20 years time, it will be absolutely standard.

"This whole assumption, 'Have you got a partner yet? Have you got a man?' Well, no actually I've got five."

The Celebrity Gogglebox star has been married twice.

Her first marriage to Royal Navy officer Christopher Mather in 1985 lasted less than 12 months. Her second marriage in 1990 to management consultant Patrick King lasted 10 years and the couple share two adult children Katie and Cameron.

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She dated TV presenter Des Kelly for five years before the split in 2006.