Zoë Ball

Zoe Louise Ball (born 23 November 1970) 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 in 2024 was confirmed as the second-highest paid BBC presenter after Gary Lineker.

In 2018, Ball was announced as the new host of ''The Radio 2 Breakfast Show'' and took over from Chris Evans in January 2019, before stepping down from the programme in December 2024.

Ball presented the children's show '' Live & Kicking'', alongside Jamie Theakston, from 1996 to 1999. In 2005, she was a contestant in the third series of ''Strictly Come Dancing''. Following this, in 2011 she replaced Claudia Winkleman as host of the BBC Two spin-off show '' Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two'' until her departure in 2021. Ball also hosted the '' Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour'' in 2011 and 2015.

Early life and education

Zoe Louise Ball was born on 23 November 1970 in Blackpool, Lancashire. She is the daughter of the children's TV presenter Johnny Ball and his wife Julia (née Anderson). The couple divorced when Ball was two and she was raised with her father.

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 Amersham College of Art and Technology for a " City & Guilds in radio and journalism".

Ball 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''.

Ball became a runner at Granada Television and researcher for ''Cool Cube'' (1990–1994), 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''.

From 1994–1996, Ball presented '' SMart'' with Mark Speight and Jay Burridge. In 1995, Ball hosted '' Fully Booked'' for the first series. In 1997 and 1998, she was a regular presenter on ''Top of the Pops'', usually alternating with fellow presenters and DJs Jayne Middlemiss and Jo Whiley.

In 1996, Ball was a co-host with Jamie Theakston in BBC One's Saturday morning children's program '' Live & Kicking''. In 1998, television personality Chris Evans was a guest of the show, and later employed both Ball and Theakston to co-host the Channel 4 Wednesday night chat/music show ''The Priory'', under Ginger Productions.

Ball’s presenting jobs have also included hosting '' The Big Breakfast'' on Channel 4,

Ball co-hosted the 2002 Brit Awards with Frank Skinner, In 2005, she co-hosted the BBC reality show '' Strictly Dance Fever''. In 2006, Ball co-hosted the ITV programme ''Extinct'', alongside Trevor McDonald.

In January 2007, Ball presented the second series of ITV's '' Soapstar Superstar'', taking over from Fern Britton and Ben Shephard, who hosted the first series. In March 2007, she hosted the ITV talent search '' Grease Is the Word''.

Alongside Jamie Theakston, Ball presented Channel 5's quiz series ''Britain's Best Brain'' in 2009. Ball has guest presented several episodes of '' The One Show'' as a stand-in for Alex Jones.

On 4 August 2013, as hostess of a special entitled '' Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor'', she revealed Peter Capaldi as the incoming Twelfth Doctor and hosted his first interview in that capacity.

In November 2013, Ball co-hosted the BBC One Children in Need telethon, alongside Sir Terry Wogan, Fearne Cotton, Nick Grimshaw and Tess Daly. In 2014, Ball presented a BBC Two spin-off from '' The Voice UK'' called '' The Voice: Louder on Two''. The show aired for one series of ten episodes.

In 2015, Ball hosted '' EastEnders: Backstage Live'', a spin-off show during the ''EastEnders'' live week. She co-presented the '' BBC Young Dancer'' competition with Darcey Bussell on BBC Two.

Ball also narrated two ITV specials, '' The Nation's Favourite '70s Number One'' and '' The Nation's Favourite '80s Number One'', as well as the BBC One series '' Don't Tell the Bride''. In 2016, Ball co-presented '' Can't Touch This'', a Saturday night game show for BBC One, alongside Ashley Banjo.

Ball narrated '' The Nation's Favourite Carpenters Song'', and guest-presented an episode of '' Film 2016''. In 2017, Ball co-presented '' The Big Family Cooking Showdown'' with Nadiya Hussain on BBC Two.

Since 2020, Ball has appeared alongside her son Woody Fred Cook on '' Celebrity Gogglebox''.

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 a panellist on the "New Year's Treat" episode of '' Taskmaster'' for that year.

''Strictly Come Dancing'' and ''It Takes Two''

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; 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'', 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. On 17 May 2021, Ball announced she was leaving her role as presenter after 10 years.

Radio

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. 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. She was twice warned by the BBC for swearing on the radio.

Ball left BBC Radio 1 in March 2000. Her final show was on 10 March 2000; 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''. She left Xfm at the end of 2004.

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.

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 am to 8 am on the network from 6 June 2009 as part of a shake-up of weekend programming at Radio 2. 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.

Ball covered ''The Radio 2 Breakfast Show'' for Chris Evans on several occasions.

From 4 March 2017 to 22 December 2018, Ball returned to Radio 2 on permanent basis where she presented the Saturday afternoon slot on BBC Radio 2 between 3 pm and 6 pm, 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.

In August 2024, the BBC confirmed Ball was the second-highest paid BBC presenter after Gary Lineker, with a salary of £950,000, having exceeded that figure for the previous three years.BBC pay 2023-2024: The full list of star salaries
''BBC News, ''23 July 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2025

On 23 September 2024, Ball announced she was returning to Radio 2, six weeks after announcing a break from the show. 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.

On 3 May 2025, Ball's show replaced '' Pick of the Pops'', which had held the 1 pm to 3 pm slot for 16 years; ''Pick of the Pops'' moved to Sundays from 5 pm to 7pm.

Personal life

Whilst at BBC Radio 1, Ball began a relationship with the DJ and musician Norman Cook, known as Fatboy Slim. The couple married at Babington House in Somerset in August 1999. In 2003, Ball and Cook separated when Ball revealed that she had an affair; they later reconciled. The couple have a son, Woody Fred Cook (born 2000), and a daughter, Nelly (born 2010). On 24 September 2016, Cook and Ball announced their separation after 18 years together.

Between 2017 and 2023, Ball was in a relationship with fashion model and carpenter Michael Reed.

Charity work

In 2014, she supported Marks & Spencer and Oxfam's "Love Mum" campaign.

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. Highlights of the challenge were broadcast in a one-off documentary, airing on 21 March 2018 on BBC One. She raised £1,198,012.

Filmography

Radio

Television

References

External links

*

''Zoe Ball''
(BBC Radio 2)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Zoe
1970 births
Living people
BBC Radio 1 presenters
BBC Radio 2 presenters
English children's television presenters
English radio DJs
Television personalities from Lancashire
People from Blackpool
People from Beaconsfield
Comic Relief people