Group Captain Carol Jean Vorderman MBE RAFVR(T) (born 24 December 1960) is a British media personality, best known for co-hosting the popular game show Countdown for 26 years from 1982 until 2008.Vorderman's career took off in 1982 when she joined Channel 4 game show Countdown. She co-hosted the show most recently with Des O'Connor; before that Vorderman was co-host with Des Lynam and Richard Whiteley (from 1982 until his death in 2005).