Zoe Louise Ball (born 23 November 1970)[1] is a British broadcaster and presenter. She was the first female host of the Radio 1 and Radio 2 breakfast shows for the BBC, and presented the children's show Live & Kicking, alongside Jamie Theakston from 1996 until 1999.
In 2018, Ball was announced as the new host of The Radio 2 Breakfast Show and took over from Chris Evans in January 2019,[2] retiring from the flagship programme in December 2024.[3]
Early life
Zoe Ball was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, and grew up in Farnham Common, Buckinghamshire. She is the daughter of the children's TV presenter Johnny Ball and his wife Julia (née Anderson). The couple divorced when Zoe was two[4] and she was raised with her father.[5]
Ball was educated at Heston Junior School in the district of Hounslow between 1975 and 1978. Her family then moved to Farnham Common in Buckinghamshire. She attended Farnham Common First School and Farnham Common Middle School before moving to Holy Cross Convent School in Chalfont St Peter and AmershamCollege of Art and Technology[6] for a "City & Guilds in radio and journalism".[7][8][9]
She also attended the Young Theatre at Beaconsfield where she trained as an actress. Her first TV appearance was as a child in the studio audience of the Saturday morning children's show, Saturday Superstore, on which her father was appearing as a guest.
Career
Television
Ball began her television career as a presenter on the pre-school programme Playdays.[10][11]
Ball became a runner at Granada Television and researcher for Cool Cube (1990–1994),[12] a children's Saturday afternoon magazine show, produced at Granada's studio in Manchester, by Clear Idea Television, and broadcast on the British Satellite Broadcasting channel Galaxy.[13][14]
In 2021, Ball appeared on The Masked Dancer, masked as Llama. She was the sixth celebrity to be unmasked.
In 2023, Ball appeared as herself in Episode 1 of the BBC One comedy Queen of Oz. Ball is seen and heard on her radio programme questioning the outrageous antics of spoiled spare to the British crown, Princess Georgiana, played by Catherine Tate.
In 2024, Ball appeared as herself on the "New Year's Treat" episode of Taskmaster.
In October 2005, Ball became a contestant on the third series of the BBC One talent show Strictly Come Dancing, where she was partnered by Ian Waite. Ball and Waite were ranked in third place;[28] they also scored 38/40 (including two tens) for three dances in the series and one in the Christmas special.
In 2011, Ball took over from Claudia Winkleman as the host of Strictly Come Dancing's sister show It Takes Two,[36] airing every weeknight on BBC Two; in 2014, whilst Winkleman was on leave after her daughter suffered serious burn injuries, Ball co-hosted the main show.[28] On 17 May 2021, Ball announced she was leaving her role as presenter after 10 years.
Although known primarily for her TV work, Ball first worked in radio, after she became co-host of Radio 1 Breakfast on BBC Radio 1 in October 1997 with Kevin Greening.[9] She became the sole host, the first female DJ to do so. At this time, her hard-drinking, hard-partying lifestyle contributed to the identification of the so-called "ladette culture" of the late 1990s.[37] She was twice warned by the BBC for swearing on the radio.[38]
Ball left BBC Radio 1 in March 2000. Her final show was on 10 March 2000;[39] she was succeeded by Sara Cox.
Ball returned to radio in mid-2002 when she joined London radio station Xfm, where she presented the weekday drivetime show until December 2003. In January 2004, she took over a Friday evening music show for the station. She also stood in for Ricky Gervais while he filmed the second series of The Office.[40] She left Xfm at the end of 2004.[41]
In September 2007, she returned to BBC Radio and co-hosted a show with Sara Cox, celebrating 40 years of BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2.
From 2006, she provided relief presenting duties for BBC Radio 2, fronted specialist documentaries, sat in for Dermot O'Leary for three weeks in February 2006, and co-presented (with Danny Baker) the hastily conceived replacement for Jonathan Ross' Saturday morning show, in the wake of Ross's suspension due to Sachsgate in 2008.
Zoe Ball in 2009
In 2009, Ball became the usual relief presenter for Ken Bruce's weekday mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2. She also began hosting the Saturday breakfast show from 6:00a.m. to 8:00a.m. on the network from 6 June 2009 as part of a shake-up of weekend programming at Radio 2.[17] Ball left Radio 2 for a while as her last show was broadcast on Saturday 28 January 2012. Her replacement in that slot was Anneka Rice.[42]
From 4 March 2017 until 22 December 2018, Ball returned to Radio 2 on permanent basis where she presented the Saturday afternoon slot on BBC Radio 2 between 3–6pm, taking over from Dermot O'Leary.
On 3 October 2018, she was announced by Chris Evans as the new host of The Radio 2 Breakfast Show, which began on 14 January 2019. Rylan Clark replaced Ball in the Saturday mid-afternoon slot.[2]
On 23 September 2024, Ball announced she was returning to Radio 2, six weeks after announcing a break from the show.[44] On 19 November she announced on the show that she would stop being the presenter of the Breakfast Show from 20 December, but would remain working for the station.[3]
Personal life
Whilst at BBC Radio 1, Ball began a relationship with the DJ and musician Norman Cook, known as Fatboy Slim.[11] The couple married at Babington House in Somerset[45] in August 1999. In 2003, Ball and Cook separated when Ball revealed that she had had an affair; they later reconciled.[46] The couple have a son, Woody Fred Cook (born 2000), and a daughter, Nelly (born 2010).[47][48] On 24 September 2016, Cook and Ball announced their separation after 18 years together, and later divorced[49] in 2020
Between 2017 and 2023, Ball was in a relationship with fashion model and carpenter Michael Reed.[50]
In March 2018, Ball took part in the 'Hardest Ride Home' challenge in which she cycled from Blackpool to Brighton to raise money for Sport Relief and mental health awareness. She set off on 5 March for five days.[51][52] Highlights of the challenge were broadcast in a one-off documentary, airing on 21 March 2018 on BBC One. She raised £1,198,012.[53]
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