Carol Vorderman celebrates nine years of having a pilot's licence

Carol Vorderman is celebrating nine years of being a qualified pilot.

The 61-year-old TV presenter obtained her pilot's licence in 2013 and marked the occasion by doing her first ever solo flight live on This Morning.

Vorderman shared images of her debut flight on Instagram, saying: "My first solo flight as a pilot was nine years ago today. It's such a big thing to every pilot. The first time you take control of a plane without your instructor in the cockpit to get you out of trouble. Just you and your aircraft and air traffic control on the radio."

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She went on: "For mine...I wanted to make a statement about #GirlsFlyToo and how it's never too late to follow your heart ...I was 52 back then. I had only ever really wanted to be a @royalairforceuk fighter pilot or an astronaut when I was growing up , but those things were illegal for girls in the UK back then.

"So we did a world first and I made my first solo flight LIVE on telly on @thismorning. Loved it ❤️❤️ and something I will never forget forever.

"@jennifalconer presented the piece for the show and my flying instructor Deb Ford did the commentary while I was in the air flying a circuit at 1000ft. Happiest of days."

The former Countdown star made her name as the resident mathematician on the long-running Channel 4 game show, before Rachel Riley, between 1982 and 2008.

She recently stood in for Lorraine Kelly, guest hosting Lorraine, while Kelly was off sick with COVID-19.

And the Welsh TV star also became Gyles Brandreth's new sofa mate in Celebrity Gogglebox for the latest series.

Vorderman, who has two adult children from her second marriage, last year sold her five-bedroom home near Bristol to live in a converted van.

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The presenter – who competed in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! in 2016 – revealed she had purchased a brand new four-wheel-drive van with plans to convert it into "my new home" in order to live an adventurous life on the road in 2022.

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