1. My mum

My wonderful mother Jean is my rock. We have lived together almost my entire life and she now shares my home in Bristol.

Mum brought me and my brother and sister up alone and she is an inspiration. She taught us to be assertive but to always consider other people at the same time.

She is 86 and currently recovering from an operation. But no matter what life throws at her, my mother always seems to have a smile on her face and she is one of the most gentle and compassionate people I know. I feel so proud to have her as my mum.

2. Flying

Right from childhood it was always my dream to become a pilot.

But back in the 1970s when I was a teenager, flying was still a very male dominated profession and I figured my best chance of breaking through as a woman was to apply to Cambridge and get a degree in engineering, which is exactly what I did.

However my life took an unexpected turn when my mum saw a job avert for a mathematically gifted presenter to appear on Countdown and applied on my behalf.

The rest is history and I will always be incredibly grateful for the 26 years I spent on the show and my subsequent television career.

But I can honestly say that I have never craved fame and as exciting as broadcasting can be, it is simply not a patch on the exhilaration of flying.

For the past two years I have been focused on learning to fly and this Christmas my partner Duffy and I are will be flying around Western Australia together and then next year I am planning a solo flight around the globe.

For me, flying is like nothing else in the world and I feel so blessed to be finally able to make my dream come true.

3. Cars

I am a complete Petrol Head as I love driving and have always been obsessed with Formula 1.

Recently I appeared on Top Gear and I was in my element discussing compression and turbo engines with Jeremy Clarkson. But the best bit about it was that I learnt to do a hand break turn which was an absolute blast.

I've had lots of stylish motors over the years, but in terms of geek appeal, that award has to go to my brown Datsun 120Y which was one of my first sets of wheels.

4. Best friend

My closest friend is Amanda Prowse, who is a successful novelist and she can make me laugh like nobody else on earth. We tell each other everything, we holiday together and we're real partners in crime.

But what makes our friendship particularly interesting is that in some ways we are very different. Amanda always gives me her novels to proof read but I am much more at home with an engineering manual. She on the other hand, is completely innumerate and can barely count past 10, bless her.

5. Heels

At home I live in my trainers but when it comes to work or socialising I don't go anywhere without wearing heels.

They completely transform your posture and self-image and as I'm 5ft 6in I don't need sky scrapers, but I do like to add at least three inches to my height.

I have a couple of pairs of Christian Laboutins which I love, but to be honest I have pretty simple taste and I buy most of my shoes from the high street.

• Carol Vorderman is a GoUltraLow.com ambassador demonstrating the benefits and cost savings of the ultra- low emission Vauxhall Ampera