Carol Vorderman is the maths genius who we grew up with while watching Countdown after school, alongside her beloved on-screen word nerd Susie Dent. 

An advocate for women in STEM, Vorderman was one of the youngest female students to study engineering at the University of Cambridge during her time there. She worked in power stations before forging a career in entertainment. She then spent 26 years as the numbers expert on Channel 4’s afternoon show Countdown, which led to her becoming one of the highest paid women in television. Rachel Riley took over Vorderman’s slot when she left in 2008. Since then, the presenter has gone on to host the annual Pride of Britain Awards, alongside other successful entertainment shows (who can forget ITV transformation show Better Homes, right?). 

Oh, she’s also a best-selling author of children’s maths books and she runs an online maths school. 

Basically: Vorderman is a bit of a legend, really. 

But Vorderman is now at the receiving end of sexist comments on Twitter, with some reading as threatening and violent. 

They came after she shared photographs which showed off a new haircut she had on Thursday (15 August). The images include a mix of closeups and full-body portrait shots, including one with the hairdresser who she is thanking. 

Vorderman captioned them: “Do you like my new hair… Cos I do… Thank you AGAIN my lovely James ⁦@JrHairBeauty.”

The post has so far attracted over 4,000 likes and 1,000 comments. Although many of the comments are supportive and positive, the thread is tainted with a lot of pretty awful and 100% unacceptable replies. 

Much of the conversation focuses on her figure, just because she dared to not crop out the rest of her body in the photos. One Twitter user even said he’d “love to crash your back doors in”. Nice. 

This isn’t the first time that Vorderman has been subjected to online trolling. Earlier this year, a Twitter follower shared a link to an article which showed pictures of her arriving at an airport wearing an unzipped  jumpsuit. 

They tweeted: “Not another camera opportunity Carol. Have you a book out soon ?”

But Vorderman replied: “Mate.Wearing that for 24 hours.Straight from @HmsBrocklesby to hotel for suitcases then the airport. So tired had to be woken up to board,slept in it. Landed home, wrecked but happy and a photographer waiting at the lift for car park. Your apology will be graciously accepted”

Perhaps some people have a problem with a woman over 50 who chooses to share photos of herself when she feels and looks good? Hopefully, Vorderman will continue to ignore the comments and carry on wearing and sharing what she wants to. 

Images: Getty