Zoe Louise Ball (born 23 November 1970) is a British radio and television presenter. She was the first female host of both ''

Radio 1 Breakfast ''Radio 1 Breakfast'' is a radio show that is broadcast across the UK on BBC Radio 1. It is hosted by Greg James since 20 August 2018 as the show's 16th presenter. The show ran six days a week until February 1968 (seBBC Genome Project, then fi ...

'' and '' The Radio 2 Breakfast Show'' for the BBC, and presented the 1990s children's show ''

Live & Kicking ''Live & Kicking'' is a British children's television series that originally aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1993 to 15 September 2001. It was the replacement for '' Going Live!'', and took many of its features from it, such as phone-ins, games, ...

'', alongside Jamie Theakston from 1996–1999. Ball was a contestant in the third series of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 j ...

''. Following this, in 2011 she replaced

Claudia Winkleman Claudia Anne Irena Winkleman (born 15 January 1972) is an English television presenter, radio personality, film critic and journalist. Between 2004 and 2010, she presented '' Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two'' on weeknights on BBC Two. Since ...

as host of the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

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. In 2018, Ball was announced as the new '' The Radio 2 Breakfast Show'' host and took over from Chris Evans in January 2019.

Early life

Zoe Ball was born in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and is ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

, and grew up in Farnham Common,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

. 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. Ball was educated at Heston Junior School in the district of

Hounslow Hounslow () is a large suburban district of West London, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 12 metropolitan centres in ...

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 Chalfont St Peter is a large village and civil parish in southeastern Buckinghamshire, England. It is in a group of villages called The Chalfonts which also includes Chalfont St Giles and Little Chalfont. The villages lie between High Wycombe a ...

and

Amersham Amersham ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, in the Chiltern Hills, northwest of central London, from Aylesbury and from High Wycombe. Amersham is part of the London commuter be ...

College of Art and Technology. She also attended the Young Theatre at

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...

where she trained as an actress. Her first TV appearance was as a child in the studio audience of the 1980s 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 runner at

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was its ...

and researcher for the Cool Cube on

BSkyB Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...

. She then worked as a researcher for quiz shows for two years. Her presenting jobs have included hosting ''

The Big Breakfast ''The Big Breakfast'' is a British breakfast light entertainment television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4. Originally presented by Chris Evans and Gaby Roslin, the show was latterly presented by Mo Gilligan and AJ Odudu. The p ...

'' and ''The Priory'' on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

's Saturday morning children's programme ''

'', and the pre-school programme ''

Playdays ''Playdays'' (known as ''Playbus'' until December 1989) is a British pre-school television programme which ran from 1988 to 1997 on CBBC. The show was the successor to '' Play School'' and, like its predecessor, was designed as an educational p ...

''. In 1994, Ball presented ''

SMart Smart or SMART may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Smart'' (Hey! Say! JUMP album), 2014 * Smart (Hotels.com), former mascot of Hotels.com * ''Smart'' (Sleeper album), 1995 debut album by Sleeper * '' SMart'', a children's television se ...

'' with

Mark Speight Mark Warwick Fordham Speight (6 August 1965 – 7 April 2008) was an English television presenter and host of children's art programme '' SMart''. Speight was born in Seisdon, Staffordshire, and left school at 16 to become a cartoonist. He ...

and

Jay Burridge Jay Jay Burridge also known as Jay Burridge (born 12 January 1971) is an artist and former television presenter. He fronted the BBC children's art programme ''SMart'' from 1994 until 2003, when he left and became a graphic designer and snowboar ...

until she left in 1996. In 1995, Ball hosted ''

Fully Booked ''Fully Booked'', later retitled ''FBi'', is a British children's television series produced by BBC Scotland and broadcast from 22 April 1995 to 23 September 2000. Format Series 1–3 The first series is presented by Zoe Ball and Grant Stott, a ...

'' for the first series. Between 1996 and 1998, she was a regular presenter on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'', usually alternating with fellow presenters and DJs Jayne Middlemiss and

Jo Whiley Johanne Whiley-Morton (born 4 July 1965), better known by her professional name Jo Whiley, is an English radio DJ and television presenter. She was the host of the long-running weekday later weekend '' Jo Whiley Show'' on BBC Radio 1. She curre ...

. Between 1999 and 2001, she was a co-host with Jamie Theakston on the Wednesday night chat/music show ''The Priory'', which was commissioned by Chris Evans's then production company Ginger Productions. Ball co-hosted the 2002

Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

with

Frank Skinner Christopher Graham Collins (born 28 January 1957), professionally known as Frank Skinner, is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. At the 2001 British Comedy Awards, he was named Best Comedy Entertainment Personality. His televisio ...

, following which motherhood meant that she took less television work. In 2005, she co-hosted the BBC reality show '' Strictly Dance Fever''. In 2006, Ball co-hosted the ITV programme ''

Extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

'', alongside

Trevor McDonald Sir Trevor McDonald (born George McDonald; 16 August 1939) is a Trinidadian- British newsreader and journalist, best known for his career as a news presenter with ITN. McDonald was knighted in 1999 for his services to journalism. Career ...

. In January 2007, she presented the second series of ITV's ''

Soapstar Superstar ''Soapstar Superstar'' is a British talent show that aired on ITV from 6 January 2006 to 13 January 2007. The show's format works in a similar format to that of '' Pop Idol'' and ''The X Factor'', in that the competition features a group of ...

'', taking over from

Fern Britton Fern Britton (born 17 July 1957) is an English author and television presenter. She co-presented '' Breakfast Time'' in the 1980s, coming to mainstream national attention when hosting cookery game show ''Ready Steady Cook'' between 1994 and 200 ...

and

Ben Shephard Benjamin Peter Sherrington Shephard (born 11 December 1974) is an English television presenter and journalist who is currently employed by ITV. He was a main presenter on the now defunct breakfast programme '' GMTV'' and since April 2014 has ...

, who hosted the first series. In March 2007, she hosted the ITV talent search ''

Grease Is the Word ''Grease Is the Word'' is the United Kingdom version of NBC's '' Grease: You're the One That I Want!''. It aired during 2007, and was produced by Syco TV (the production company of Simon Cowell). The winning couple, Susan McFadden & Danny Bayne ...

''. 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 ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan ...

'' as a stand-in for

Alex Jones Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American far-right and alt-right radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas, which the Genesis Communications Network broadcas ...

. On 4 August 2013, as hostess of a special entitled '' Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor'', she revealed

Peter Capaldi Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, writer and musician. He portrayed the twelfth incarnation of the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker in '' The Thick of It'' (2005–2012), for ...

as the incoming

Twelfth Doctor The Twelfth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Peter Capaldi in three series as well as four specials. As with previous incar ...

and hosted his first interview in that capacity. In November 2013, she co-hosted the

Children in Need telethon, alongside Sir

Terry Wogan Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 week ...

, Fearne Cotton,

Nick Grimshaw Nicholas Peter Andrew Grimshaw (born 14 August 1984), also known as Grimmy, is an English television and former radio presenter, podcaster and author. He became known for having hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1. He is also known as a t ...

and Tess Daly. In 2014, Ball presented a

spin-off from ''

The Voice UK ''The Voice UK'' is a British singing competition television series. Created by John de Mol, it premiered on BBC One during the spring television cycle on 24 March 2012. Based on the original '' The Voice of Holland'', and part of ''The Voice ...

'' 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 BBC Young Dancer is a televised national dance competition, broadcast on BBC Four and BBC Two since 2015. The competition, inspired by the success of the biennal BBC Young Musician of the Year, is designed for British amateur dancers of ballet, ...

'' competition with

Darcey Bussell Dame Darcey Andrea Bussell, (born Marnie Mercedes Darcey Pemberton Crittle; 27 April 1969) is an English retired ballerina and a former judge on the BBC television dance contest ''Strictly Come Dancing''. Trained at the Arts Educational Sc ...

on BBC Two. She 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 Ashley Modurotolu Banjo is an English street dancer, choreographer and actor. He is the leader of dance troupe Diversity who won the third series of ''Britain's Got Talent''. Banjo was a judge on the Sky1 talent show '' Got to Danc ...

. She also narrated '' The Nation's Favourite Carpenters Song''. She guest-presented an episode of '' Film 2016''. In 2017, Ball co-presented ''

The Big Family Cooking Showdown ''The Big Family Cooking Showdown'', often referred to as simply ''Cooking Showdown'' or ''BFCS'', is a BBC team cooking competition. The first season was hosted by ''Great British Bake Off'' winner Nadiya Hussain and Zoe Ball. Each week, two te ...

'' with

Nadiya Hussain Nadiya Jamir Hussain (''née'' Begum; born 25 December 1984) is a British television chef, author and television presenter. She rose to fame after winning the sixth series (Season 3 on PBS, or Collection 3 on Netflix in the US) of BBC's ''Th ...

on BBC Two. In 2020 and 2021, Ball appeared alongside her son Woody Fred Cook on Series 2 and 3 of ''

Celebrity Gogglebox ''Gogglebox'' is a British reality television series created by Stephen Lambert, Tania Alexander and Tim Harcourt, and broadcast on Channel 4. The series documents families and groups of friends around the United Kingdom who are filmed for thei ...

''. In 2021, Ball appeared on '' The Masked Dancer'', masked as Llama. She was the sixth celebrity to be unmasked.

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

In October 2005, Ball became a contestant on the third series of the BBC One talent show ''

'', 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, she took over from

as the host of ''Strictly Come Dancing''s sister show '' It Takes Two'', airing every weeknight on

; 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 ''

'' on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance ...

in October 1997 with

Kevin Greening Kevin Greening (30 December 1962 – 29 December 2007) was a British radio presenter, who co-hosted ''Radio 1 Breakfast'' on BBC Radio 1 with Zoe Ball from 13 October 1997 to 25 September 1998. Early career Kevin Greening grew up in Bristol wh ...

. 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

in March 2000 to start a family and a new chapter. 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 Radio X is a British National commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. Radio X launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station, a licensed London-wide station in 1997 and nationally in 2 ...

, 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 Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and ''An Idiot Abroad'' ...

while he filmed the second series of ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original ser ...

''. 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

and

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

. From 2006, she provided relief presenting duties for

, fronted specialist documentaries, sat in for

Dermot O'Leary Seán Dermot Fintan O'Leary Jr. (born 24 May 1973) is an English broadcaster who currently works for ITV and BBC Radio 2. His radio career began when he worked as a disc jockey at Essex Radio, but he is best known for being the presenter of ' ...

for three weeks in February 2006, and co-presented (with

Danny Baker Danny Baker (born 22 June 1957) is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Throughout his career he has largely presented for London's regional radio and television. Baker was born in Deptford to a working-class fami ...

) the hastily conceived replacement for

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on ...

' 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 Kenneth Robertson Bruce (born 2 February 1951) is a British broadcaster who is best known for hosting his long-running weekday mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2 from 1986 to 1990, and then again since 1992. Early life and career Bruce was born a ...

's weekday mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2. She also began hosting the Saturday breakfast show from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. 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 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

. 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 Ross Richard Clark (born 25 October 1988), known professionally as Rylan, is an English broadcaster and model. He finished in fifth place on the ninth series of '' The X Factor'' in 2012, and the following year, he won the eleventh series of ...

replaced Ball in the Saturday mid-afternoon slot.

Personal life

Whilst at

, Ball began a relationship with the DJ and musician

Norman Cook Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist ...

(also known as Fatboy Slim). The couple married at

Babington House Babington House is a Grade II* listed manor house, located in the village of Babington, between Radstock and Frome, in the county of Somerset, England. Converted to a private members club and hotel by Nick Jones, it is currently owned by Soh ...

in Somerset in August 1999. In 2003, the couple split up when Ball revealed that she had 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, the couple announced their separation after 18 years together and later divorced. Zoe's long-term partner Michael Reed is a fashion model and a carpenter; she refers to him as Curly Sue on her radio show. They met through a mutual friend in 2017.

Charity work

In 2014, she supported

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

and

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. History Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...

's Love Mum campaign. In March 2018, Ball took part in the 'Hardest Ride Home' challenge, which saw her cycling from Blackpool to Brighton to raise money for

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Director of Educat ...

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

. As a result of the challenge, she was able to raise a total of £1,198,012.

Filmography

Radio

Television

References

External links

*
''The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show''
(BBC Radio 2)
@ZoeTheBall Verified Twitter Account
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Zoe 1970 births BBC Radio 1 presenters BBC Radio 2 presenters British children's television presenters English radio DJs English television presenters Living people People from Blackpool People from Beaconsfield Comic Relief people Top of the Pops presenters