Carol Vorderman Cuts Down Drink

Carol Vorderman admits she used to drink too much.

The former 'Countdown' star said she used to drink a few glasses of wine every evening after work, but forced herself to cut back after she realised she was consuming far more than her recommended number of units a week.

She said: "I've cut down, and have two or three nights a week when I don't drink. I've passed those days now when I went out to get drunk.

"Nowadays, if I go on a big night out alcohol just makes me tired. I'd be asleep by 11 if I tried to binge drink."

The 48-year-old mathematician - who co-hosted the Channel 4 show for 26 years - claims she rarely had a drink during her student years at Cambridge University.

Instead, Carol has blamed her former co-presenter Richard Whitley, who sadly passed away in 2005, for being a "bad influence" on her drinking habits.

She explained: "I didn't drink much at Cambridge, but when I moved to Leeds for 'Countdown' I started drinking more. Richard Whitely could really pack away a bottle or two. We used to go out for a drink together, and he's always be the one to order that extra bottle. He was a bad influence on me."

Carol is now concerned about the effects of alcohol on her body.

She explained: "It seems that drinking to excess has become the norm now and it's scary when you actually think of what that amount of drink can do to your health.

"I'm at an age now where concerns about my body have taken over from vanity and I've started to worry about what I'm doing to it."

The government recommends women should avoid consuming more than 2-3 units of alcohol a day, the equivalent of one 175ml glass of wine.