BBC Breakfast favourite Carol Kirkwood has long been a familiar face on our screens, brightening up our mornings with her warm smile and reliable forecasts. But behind the sunshine exterior, the 62-year-old weather presenter has quietly weathered storms of her own – including the heartbreak of a dream she’s had to let go.

In an exclusive interview with OK!, Carol opened up about the emotional pain of not having children – something she once deeply hoped for.

“I always wanted to have children. That was my dream,” she admits. The star, known for her chirpy demeanour and professional poise, reveals that she even looked into fertility treatment before the costs became overwhelming. “It was a source of heartbreak, but we tried and failed.”

Carol is known for her role as a BBC Presenter

The Scottish-born presenter, who grew up in a big family as one of eight siblings, has channelled her love into being an incredibly devoted auntie. “I love them all incredibly,” she beams, referring to her 15 nieces and nephews, as well as several godchildren.

Despite that particular chapter never being written, Carol has found happiness in other areas of her life – both personally and professionally.

After her 2008 divorce from ex-husband Jimmy Kirkwood, a former field hockey player, Carol focused on her career and rebuilt her life with grace.

She spent years quietly keeping her love life under wraps, but in 2022 delighted fans when she announced her engagement to long-term partner Steve Randall, a former police officer turned businessman. The pair now live in the Buckinghamshire countryside and recently tied the knot in a private ceremony, with Carol sharing glimpses of the joy on social media.

Professionally, Carol has enjoyed an impressive run at the BBC, having joined the broadcaster in the late 1990s. She became a regular on BBC Breakfast and quickly established herself as the nation’s go-to weather expert. Her warmth, expertise, and genuine connection with viewers made her a beloved household name.

In addition to her work, Carol wowed audiences with her appearance on Strictly Come Dancing in 2015, partnering with professional dancer Pasha Kovalev and charming viewers with her grace and humour. More recently, she’s turned her hand to writing, publishing several romance novels that have earned glowing reviews and flown off shelves.

Carol married police officer Steve in December 2023, nine years after her divorce from property developer Jimmy Kirkwood

Surviving heartbreak, she says, has made her a better writer – and person. “You know how it feels when somebody doesn’t love you any more and moves on, in the same way that you’ve probably done to somebody else, when you’ve been honest and said, ‘I think you’re great, but romantically, it’s not going anywhere,’” she says.

“When you’re heartbroken, you cry a lot, you feel sorry for yourself and you think, perhaps, you’re going to spend the rest of your life on your own, and then you don’t. You come out of that. You grow.”

Now, she hopes that her own happy ending is giving hope to other women who find themselves suddenly navigating midlife solo. “When I got divorced, I did date other people, then somebody said to me, ‘You need to find yourself’ and I was thinking, ‘What? I know myself. I know who I am.’ But I went for a period without dating people, because I was just happy going out with my friends.

Yet for all her achievements, it’s clear that the absence of children remains a tender spot in an otherwise full life. Ever dignified, Carol has made peace with it.