As Carol Vorderman, Jennifer Coolidge and Ulrika Jonsson say they aren’t looking for ‘the one’, experts reveal why some women in their 50s and 60s are shunning commitment for casual flings
- Carol Vorderman, 62, revealed she wasn’t keen on the idea of falling in love
- READ MORE: Most dating app users are ‘addicted’ and spend nearly an HOUR swiping every day
Carol Vorderman has revealed she isn’t keen on falling in love during a discussion about her dating life in which she sees ‘five special friends’ – and experts have revealed her decision isn’t that unusual.
The TV presenter and maths whizz, 62, revealed she ‘isn’t a jealous person’ and that she ‘doesn’t want to fall in love’ in an interview with You Magazine.
And as she joins a cohort of celebrity women in their 60s who have spoken about their enjoyment of casual dating and active sex lives including Jennifer Coolidge and Ulrika Jonsson, experts told FEMAIL that several factors, including an increase in dating websites for more mature singletons, have changed the way some women want to approach romance.
Taking a carefree attitude towards dating, Vorderman revealed that she wouldn’t mind if any of her close friends, who regard themselves as single, moved on to committed relationships with other people.
Lovehoney’s sex expert Annabelle Knight told FEMAIL there are good reasons why Carol, among other women, might decide to turn away from committed unions – particularly as dating websites for older people attract more members.
Carol Vorderman (pictured), 62, has revealed she has no interest in falling in love as she speaks about dating ‘five close friends’. Experts told FEMAIL why she isn’t necessarily bucking a trend and that several women in their 50s and 60s are opting for similar casual entanglements
Vorderman has long been vocal about her more casual romantic relationships, however her recent revelation that she does not want to fall in love.
She said: ‘The goal of my life is to be happy, not to be in love. I just find people interesting and life interesting.
‘And you can get to a stage where you choose which bits you enjoy. You can’t in your 30s because you’re making your way in your career, you’re beholden to bosses and all those sorts of things. But in your 60s…’
Reflecting on Carol’s comments, Knight said her attitude towards love and sex is not necessarily uncommon for women of her age.
Ulrika Jonsson, 55 (pictured) said last year that she would like to have someone in her life but ‘possibly not in a conventional way’
Jennifer Coolidge, 61 (pictured) has joked about how playing the role of Stifler’s Mom in the American Pie movies had worked wonders for her sex life
‘For single women in their 50s and 60s, the chances are that they have been dating or in relationships for most of their adult life,’ she explained.
‘This can often lead to a more relaxed view on dating, particularly for those that have just come out of a long-term relationship and are looking for companionship without anything serious.’
Knight added that older women experience ‘less societal expectation to ‘settle down’, have children, and build a family, which allows women to take a more casual and liberal approach when it comes to dating’.
Karen Mooney, who runs the Sara Eden dating agency for mature singles, added there can sometimes be more deep-rooted reasons for mature women shunning relationships.
She said: ‘Women who prefer to casually date in their 50s and 60s have usually been through a bad experience with divorce or the breakup with a long-term partner.
‘They tend to have been hurt and have an inner fear of being hurt again and therefore fear commitment to one man.’
While Vorderman, who has been single since her 2007 split from journalist Des Kelly, says her arrangement ‘works very well’, other women in the public eye who are in their 50s and 60s have previously revealed similar liberal attitudes towards sex and dating.
Jennifer Coolidge, who has recently enjoyed a renaissance in hit series The White Lotus, revealed last year that one of her earlier roles in the American Pie movies helped her land lots of sexual partners.
Speaking in a video for Variety, the 61-year-old star said of her American Pie role as Stifler’s Mom: ‘I got a lot of play [out of] being a MILF.’
She added: ‘There would have been like 200 people that I would have never had slept with.’
Coolidge’s reference to the role of Stifler’s mom, which she played in the 1990s and reprised in 2011 for a sequel, cemented her status as a sexy older woman, or a ‘MILF’.
However, despite joking about enjoying a liberal sex life, she revealed in an interview earlier this year that her dating history had had an impact on her self confidence and how she views herself.
She told Page Six: ‘I mean, my dating life, I’ve never found anyone quite right for myself. I haven’t found the love of my life.
‘I think I made some bad decisions. It makes you insecure and you don’t think you’re great.’
Another woman enjoying more casual romantic entanglements in her older years is Ulrika Jonsson, who revealed last year that, aged 55, her sex drive is ‘higher then ever’ and she was enjoying dating younger men.
Speaking to Closer magazine, she said: ‘I’ve been dating the last year and a half, on and off… In terms of younger men, it’s not so much about preferring sex with them, but I have been dating younger.’
She added that, despite taking HRT for menopause, she was ‘still very keen’ on having sex and that her libido hadn’t been affected.
‘I would love to have somebody in my life, but possibly not in a conventional way,’ the former Gladiators presenter revealed, suggesting she too is shunning the idea of conventional commitment.
As websites like Silver Singles and Senior Match have emerged to shake up the dating scene for more mature singletons, Knight believes such services have made a difference in changing what women want.
‘Dating apps specifically for over 50s are bound to have made a difference, as women over the age of 50+ can find likeminded people in the same situation,’ she said.
‘However, their existence is arguably more a result of the prevalence of over 50s wanting to date and meet new people, rather than a cause of it. Increased conversation around – and normalising of – casual dating is also related.’
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