The idyllic riverside village near London attracts very affluent residents.
Carol Kirkwood with husband Steve Randall at Wimbledon this year (Image: Getty)
After decades as the charming, cheery front of the morning weather, Carol Kirkwood delivered her final forecast on BBC Breakfast this past April. After 28 years, the iconic broadcaster bid adeiu to working life. The show may not be the same without her, but for what its worth, the 64-year-old Scot seems happier than ever.
This week, Carol shared an update on life after morning TV and its requisite 2:45am wake-ups. Retirement agrees with Carol, who has shared how she’s seized the moment with her husband of three years, Steve Randall. As she put it: “I loved being a weather presenter. I loved my job, and it was my choice to leave, because I love my husband more, and we want to do things together.”
“I’m living the dream, I’m loving it,” she continued. “What they say about retirement is absolutely true though – you seem to be busier than you were when you were working, and I don’t know how that works out, but it’s great!”
Carol met Steve, a 51-year-old former policeman, in 2017. Carol told Yours magazine that their friendship blossomed into love, and within five years, Steve had popped the question near their home in Bray.
In 2023, they tied the knot in nearby Cliveden in a “small and intimate” wedding. Carol was previously married to businessman Jimmy Kirkwood for 25 years. They divorced in 2008.
Speaking about her second marriage, Carol previously told the Times: “Love is lovelier the second time around. No disrespect to my first husband, but this is better.”
Carol Kirkwood’s quiet life after retirement
The couple are still based in Bray, an exclusive enclave just an hour’s drive from London. Carol opened up about her home in 2024, telling HouseBeautiful: “My home is a small, quite contemporary detached house near Windsor. It’s my refuge, a place where I can come home, relax and switch off.
“It’s got a reasonable, certainly manageable-sized garden and we do enjoy pottering. I can’t believe I’m saying that because when I grew up in the Highlands I used to hate doing the garden because we had an enormous garden. I’d do anything other than gardening, even cooking. Now it’s the other way around!”
Nevertheless, Carol says what makes her happiest at home is Steve. “If he’s at home, I’m happy. I don’t need anything else. He’s tall, handsome, kind, gentle, strong, funny, charming. He’s a gentleman. He’s good at cooking. I could wax lyrical about Steve forever!”
Carol shared her love of sparkles — her favourite bargain being a £3.99 charity shop sequin cushion — and penchant for collecting mugs on holiday.
She’s also a book worm. “I like all kinds, from autobiographies, biographies, fiction, nonfiction — I’ve always been an avid reader.”
When they’re not pottering about the garden, Carol and Steve have a shared passion for travel, one of their “life ambitions”. So far since retiring, the two have been to Italy and jetted off to see The Eagles perform at The Sphere in Las Vegas. On their bucket list are return trips to America and Australia, and a visit to India.
The Lock-Keeper’s House (Image: Jim Osley, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia)
Fishery Road, Bray (Image: Des Blenkinsopp, CC BY-SA 2.0, via WikiMedia)
The village of Bray
The 16th century riverside village offers the best of both worlds. Bray’s residents, a cohort that previously included Michael Caine, pay an eye-watering price to call it home.
You’ll need to be armed with a cool £1million to afford the average detached property, per Rightmove figures over the last year. Prospective buyers can downgrade to a terraced property (fetching an average £691,000) or flat (£684,000).
Otherwise, join the masses who head to the idyllic village for a breath of fresh air and a leisurely walk along its three-mile stretch of sun-dappled riverbanks.
The quintessentially English village is also a fine dining hotspot. It boasts not one, two, but three three-star Michelin restaurants.
Foodies flock to its storied eateries, of which Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck, where a meal is £365 per head, is the most famous. Another, The Waterside Inn, a dreamy hotel, restaurant and spa on the waterfront, is Carol’s favourite restaurant in Bray.
