Carol Vorderman has reignited her bitter feud with Michelle Mone one year after she said ‘Sue Me Michelle!’ on live television.
The broadcaster, 63, went on This Morning and criticised the Tory peer over allegations relating to government PPE contracts during Covid.
Previously, Mone described the former Countdown host as her ‘good friend’ whose ‘fun’ company helped her get over her divorce.
But the pair fell out ‘some time ago,’ according to insiders.
Speaking to Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond in January last year, Vorderman said: ‘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.
‘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.’
Carol acknowledged she’d once been friends with Michelle, 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.’
Now Vorderman has acknowledged the anniversary of her TV appearance by reposting the clip online, as she gave her fans an update.
She wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: ‘It’s a year since “SUE ME MICHELLE” went viral … heck.
‘UPDATE: She hasn’t sued me.’
She also admitted that the video, which she described as ‘TV gold’ still makes her laugh.
In the days that followed a source close to ‘Baroness Bra’ Mone hit back against Vorderman, branding her ‘publicity hungry’ and calling the comments ‘outrageous’.
‘I really don’t understand why Carol has started this attack,’ the source added.
‘What are the reasons – a hunger for publicity, or maybe her coming to the end of her TV career?’
This comes as prosecutors have frozen or otherwise restrained a reported £75million of assets held by Mone, 52, and her husband, Doug Barrowman, amid an ongoing probe into allegations of fraud at a PPE firm linked to the pair that was set up during the pandemic.
The pair said they did not oppose the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) application to place restrictions upon the assets.
The CPS applied for the court order on behalf of the National Crime Agency (NCA), which has been investigating the company PPE Medpro since May 2021 amid suspicions of criminal activity connected to its procurement of PPE contracts.
PPE Medpro is owned by a consortium led by Mr Barrowman; it later emerged the firm was placed in a VIP pandemic priority lane for government contracts following a recommendation by Tory peer Mone, who initially denied any links with the firm.
She later admitted she had lied to journalists over her connections with the company, telling the BBC: ‘I wasn’t trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes.’ When challenged on the fact she had lied to the press, she said: ‘That’s not a crime.’
Details of the court order, enacted under the Proceeds of Crime Act, were first reported by the Financial Times.
Among the assets affected are 4 Chester Square in Belgravia, a London townhouse acquired by Isle of Man firm Chester Ventures for nearly £9.25m, with a view to redeveloping and selling the property.
The Ballakew Estate on the Isle of Man, which was raided by the NCA in April 2022, is also covered by the court order.
Bank accounts held with Coutts, C Hoare & Co and Goldman Sachs International are also covered.
Nine properties in Glasgow’s affluent Park Circus area, which are owned through companies based in the Isle of Man, are also part of the order.
MailOnline has contacted Michelle Mone for comment.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
