‘Sue me’: Carol Vorderman reignites her vicious feud with embattled bra baroness Michelle Mone as she tells This Morning: ‘I dropped her like a stone as soon as I realised what kind of person she was’
- Star used to be friends with Michelle Mone, with pair enjoying ‘great nights out’
- REPORT: Baroness Mone’s husband ‘took part in £5.5m corporate tax swindle’
Carol Vorderman today reignited her vicious feud with Michelle Mone as she claimed ‘I dropped her like a stone as soon as I realised what kind of person she was’ before staring into the camera and saying ‘sue me, Michelle’.
The TV star used to be friends with the embattled bra baroness, with the pair regularly having ‘great fun’ on nights out together before Baroness Mone, 51, married billionaire businessman Doug Barrowman.
It emerged last month that Vorderman had called a halt to their friendship ‘some time ago’, but today was the first time she had addressed the issue on national television.
Carole Vorderman said ‘sue me Michelle’ as she addressed her feud with Michelle Mone
It emerged last month that Vorderman had called a halt to their friendship ‘some time ago’, but today was the first time she had addressed the issue on national television (pictured in 2012)
‘I cannot talk about useless PPE without also talking about Michelle Mone who was brought into the House of Lords, as a baroness, by David Cameron,’ the former Countdown host told This Morning.
‘We know she has taken leave of absence without losing the Tory whip to start with because she was actively involved, as it goes, with a company called PPE Medpro.’
She then mentioned her former friendship with Baroness Mone, before adding: ‘Now Michelle Mone, I knew, many years ago and then dropped her like a stone as soon as I realised what kind of person she was.’
She then turned to look at the camera directly and held both hands up as she said: ‘Sue me, Michelle.’
At this point, This Morning host Alison Hammond interrupted Vorderman to say: ‘Carol, can I just say she’s not here to defend herself.’
But she continued: ‘No she’s not here to defend herself but I’m repeating what has been said in the press and what has proven to be true.’
Vorderman has strongly criticised Baroness Mone over allegations relating to government contracts to supply PPE.
It emerged last month that Vorderman had called a halt to their friendship ‘some time ago’, but today was the first time she had addressed the issue on national television
‘I cannot talk about useless PPE without also talking about Michelle Mone who was brought into the House of Lords, as a baroness, by David Cameron,’ the former Countdown host said
2010: Vorderman and Baroness Mone Marion Rose Ball in aid of Children with Leukaemia at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London
The broadcaster has even claimed her former friend should be ‘slammed in jail where she belongs’.
Baroness Mone is under investigation by the National Crime Agency as part of a fraud investigation into a Covid supplies company she recommended to ministers.
She is also being probed by the House of Lords over concerns that she may have failed to declare an interest in PPE Medpro and lobbying for it to win £203m in NHS contracts, and has lost the Tory whip after taking a break from Parliament in an attempt to clear her name.
The Government is also suing the firm for allegedly breaching the terms of one deal to supply 25million surgical gowns for medics.
Vorderman has made a series of claims against her former friend on Twitter.
She wrote in one post: ‘Lady’ Mone broke Lords’ code & was seemingly involved in fraud while nurses & doctors slaved all hours to save people in the 1st lockdown.
‘She denied any involvement but her husband got £65m profit & she £29m. If so, slam them in jail where they belong.’
2010: Vorderman (left) and Baroness Mone at the launch party of The Sun’s new magazine, The Buzz
2011: The pair hug after spending time together in central London
In a second tweet she said: ‘After £221m PPE contracts, Michelle Mone threatened Hancock that if a 2nd company she was ‘helping’ to get a flow test contract for wasn’t allowed to ‘get in the game’ the awarding would seem ‘corrupt’ & she’d ‘blow this all wide open’ Where do we start??’
She added: ‘Michelle Mone… Today While nurses strike for the first time in their history, reports Mone and her husband flew in the private jet bought after PPE Medpro contracts, to the Alps for a holiday to stay in £6,000 a night hotel Words fail me. You?’
The breakdown of the pair’s relationship contrasts with their earlier friendship, with the pair spotted together on several nights out.
In 2012, Baroness Mone told Zest magazine: ‘I spend a lot of time with my girlfriends – I have great fun with Carol Vorderman – and I have discovered a passion for karaoke.’
The entrepreneur suffered another setback after the taxman said part of her husband’s business empire was promoting tax avoidance schemes.
The taxman named and shamed three ‘tax avoidance’ schemes promoted by a firm in her husband Doug Barrowman’s Knox Group.
Baroness Mone suffered another setback after the taxman said part of her husband Doug Barrowman’s business empire was promoting tax avoidance schemes
HM Revenue and Customs issued a press release earlier this month saying the programmes promoted by AML Tax (UK) Ltd all ‘seek to disguise remuneration’ – wrongly allowing company directors to avoid paying tax on their income.
Mary Aiston, HMRC’s director of counter-avoidance, said: ‘These schemes are cynically marketed as clever ways to pay less tax.
‘The truth is they rarely work in the way the promoters claim and it is the users that end up with big tax bills. HMRC will continue to use all the powers at our disposal to crack-down on promoters.
‘Anyone who thinks they may be involved in a tax avoidance scheme, or have been approached by a scheme promoter, should contact us as soon as possible to get help.’
Last March, AML Tax was fined £150,000 after a tribunal found it had failed to comply with a tax investigation by HMRC.
At the time, the taxman said the company was ‘part of Doug Barrowman’s Isle of Man based Knox Group’.
In the new announcements, the taxman identified Annuity Arrangements, AML Prefunded EBT and AML Split Contracts as tax avoidance schemes promoted by AML Tax.
HMRC said the schemes ‘make use of complex company structures and directors’ loan accounts’ to allow people to be paid without having to pay income tax, National Insurance or corporation tax.
MailOnline has contacted Baroness Mone for comment.
From leaving school in Glasgow with no qualifications to modelling and business deals: How ‘Baroness Bra’ made her millions
Lingerie tycoon Michelle Mone was born in 1971 and grew up in Glasgow’s East End, leaving school with no qualifications aged 15 before finding work as a model.
After running a sales and marketing team for the Labatt’s brewing firm, she decided to create a range of support bras after the idea came to her while wearing an uncomfortable bra during a dinner party.
Lady Mone founded MJM International with her then-husband Michael Mone in November 1996, and three years of research, design, and development resulted in the patented Ultimo bra.
Lingerie tycoon Michelle Mone (pictured centre) is under investigation by the House of Lords Commissioners for Standards for allegedly failing to declare an interest in PPE Medpro and lobbying for it to receive government contracts
The 51-year-old Conservative peer (pictured) – nicknamed Baroness Bra – has always insisted she neither had any involvement in PPE Medpro nor benefited financially from it
In August 1999, a month after having her third child, she launched Ultimo at the Selfridges department store in London, which sold the pre-launch estimate of six weeks of stock within 24 hours.
The business grew rapidly and in 2010 she earned an OBE from the Queen for her contribution to business.
But she sold 80 per cent of Ultimo in 2014, one year after announcing she had left the company following a breakdown in her marriage.
Lady Mone was nicknamed ‘Baroness Bra’ after being elevated to the House of Lords in 2015, where her official title is Baroness Mone of Mayfair.
To celebrate her 50th birthday, she decided to host five parties – one for each decade of her life – with her new husband billionaire tech tycoon Doug Barrowman, 55.
Baroness Mone founded the Ultimo brand, which earned her the nickname Baroness Bra
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