Carol Vorderman has demanded an apology from Reform UK candidate Robert Kenyon over what she describes as “disgusting comments” he made about her on social media. The broadcaster and former Countdown star called Kenyon a “cowardly man” for a series of offensive posts, which have since been deleted along with his account.
In 2021, Kenyon responded to a post about Vorderman in which another user wrote: “My god I’d love to smell and lick your arsehole”, by saying: “He’s only saying what we’re all thinking”. Vorderman, who posted a video last week calling Kenyon a misogynist, told the Daily Mirror she wants “an apology from Rob Kenyon, to me, and to all the other people he’s abused online”.
Danny Kruger, who joined Reform last September, defended Kenyon, saying the comments were “inappropriate” but not serious enough to drop him as the candidate for the Makerfield byelection. Kruger argued that Kenyon was “not a politician at the time” and that the posts were “intended as private conversations”. Vorderman dismissed this, stating that being an “ordinary man” was no excuse and that public posts constitute online abuse.
Further comments from Kenyon have emerged on a rugby league forum from 2019, where he claimed women have abortions for “vanity purposes” and said women cannot “ref, drive or give directions”. A Reform spokesperson said these comments were made before Kenyon entered politics and that he is “perfectly entitled to his own personal opinions on abortion”. Labour’s Angela Rayner criticised the comments, saying they show Reform is allowing “repulsive misogynistic abuse”.
