Carol Vorderman says mother 'would've killed her' over faux pas in front of the late Pope

express.co.uk:

Carol Vorderman, 62, has opened up about the moment when she desperately tried to disguise the fact she'd defaced Pope Benedict XVI's ring with her lipstick, in a candid Instagram post marking the Catholic leader's New Year's Eve death.

As she paid her respects to the late Pope, she admitted she'd never told the story to her mum out of fear of how she'd have reacted.However, former Countdown maths ace Carol - once the highest paid woman on television - was much more open today about her mishap, as she shared all with her 286,000 followers.Unleashing a very public confession, she explained that the blunder took place when she co-hosted the Pope's Day in London's Hyde Park, back in 2010.She and Frank Cottrell Boyce hosted what she described as an "incredible day whatever your religious beliefs, full of love and song and happiness".With her proud mum looking on from the audience, Carol admitted: "I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to kiss the Papal ring."The jewel, also known as the Fisherman's Ring, is a formal piece of the Pope's regalia, which is always worn on the third finger of his left hand, and destroyed at the end of his papacy."Not being used to this kind of thing I'd completely forgotten I still had my stage make up on with a heavy slick of orangy lipstick," she candidly cringed."I held the Pope's right hand, bent down, kissed the golden ring, and as my head came up all I could see was how much lipstick I'd left all over it, literally everywhere."I spent the next second which seemed like an hour not letting go of his hand trying to rub the lipstick off without him noticing.