To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
Radio presenter Zoe Ball has returned to BBC Radio 2 four-and-a-half months after she left her breakfast show on the channel, jokingly declaring she is ‘back once again with the ill behaviour’.
The 54-year-old previously left the station to ‘focus on family’ and opened her new Saturday afternoon show with A Taste Of Honey’s Boogie Oogie Oogie.
Speaking at the start of the show, Zoe said: ‘Well, hello … and welcome to the crazy, dysfunctional radio family cousin Joely D (Joel Dommett, who presented the show before Ball’s), he absolutely smashed it.
‘It’s me Ballette, back once again with the ill behaviour.
‘Should we kick off with this? Let’s get this show on the road, seat belts off, doors to manual.’
Her opening remark was taken from Renegade Master by DJ Wildchild, which was remixed by her ex-husband Norman Cook, who is best known as Fatboy Slim, in 1998 when it reached number three on the UK singles chart.
As Booker T And The MGs’ Green Onions played in the backgroundon today’s show, Zoe went on to ask if she still needed to do time checks on the afternoon show or whether ‘everyone is just so relaxed and laid back that we don’t even need those any more’.
She added: ‘It’s lovely to be back on a Saturday, this is where it all began for me, back in the day when I used to sweep up and make the teas, I used to do early mornings, and then I did the slot where Rylan is.
‘In fact, I said to producer Geoff with a G, I went, “well, I’ll pop in then about two alright, and then we’ll run things through”, and he went, “halfway through your show, love, might want to come in a bit earlier than that”.
‘I made it, I made it thanks to Geoff with a g’s daughter Emily, who made me a cake, it is absolutely magnificent, Emily.
‘And, apparently, when Geoff with a G got home last night, she’d made one, wasn’t happy with it, made another, she made three cakes.
‘Emily, you’re an absolute queen, thank you very much indeed.
‘See Nelly, my daughter, who was out at a rave on the beach last night, that’s what you could be doing, clean living life, thank you very much.’
Reading comments sent in from listeners, Zoe revealed she’d been enjoying ‘a few lie-ins’ after quitting the early morning slot.
‘People have learned not to phone me before 9.30am unless I’m doing the school run.’
Zoe was interrupted in the studio by Rylan walking in, overjoyed to see her as she said: ‘It’s gone off the rails already.’
‘There’s so many people here on a Saturday,’ she said, to which the Celebrity Gogglebox star replied: ‘It’s because you’re here!’
‘Missed you so much! We’ll have a cuddle in a bit,’ he added.
The British DJ, who is the daughter of former Play School presenter Johnny Ball, interviewed comedian Roisin Conaty on the show.
When saying goodbye to her breakfast show for the final time in December 2024, she received messages from singer Kylie Minogue, England footballer Alessia Russo and Doctor Who star David Tennant.
Thanking her colleagues for holding her up ‘at her lowest’ and her kids Woody and Nell for ‘filling her with wonder’, Zoe said: ‘Pretty cool to be the first lass to host and I won’t be the last.’
In her closing speech, she went on: ‘It’s been a real privilege to keep you company through your morning manoeuvres.
‘You’re just there and I’m just here having a chat with a mate. It’s such a special intimate relationship. It’s never lost on me.
‘We’ve been through life’s little highs and little lows together. I really do hope we’ve been able to bring some sunshine and light when you’ve most needed it, a daft distraction from the harder stuff. I’ve been bowled over by your messages across the years. Thank you for sharing your stories with me.’
She continued: ‘Together there’s been much laughter, some silliness, a few tears, lots of singing, and there has been dancing. There will always be dancing.’
She added: ‘As the song says: “You give a little love and it all comes back to you.” Well I’ve most definitely felt that love from you listeners. I feel very lucky to have been here. I send buckets of love out to you and your dear ones this Christmas. It’s been very special.’
Former Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills took over her slot in January 2025 and his previous weekday slot of 2pm to 4pm has been filled by Trevor Nelson.
Zoe took a break from hosting The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show in the summer of 2024, returning in September.
After making the decision to leave in November, she revealed she wakes up most days with ‘awful headaches’ due to a health condition that causes pain in the jaw joint and surrounding muscles.
She said she had a temporomandibular (TMJ) joint disorder, which affects the movement of the jaw, according to the NHS.
Zoe was the BBC’s highest-paid on-air female presenter in 2023/24 with a salary between £950,000 and £954,999, ranking her second on the list of top-earning talent behind Gary Lineker, according to the corporation’s annual report published in July 2024.
She was previously married to musician and DJ Norman Cook, known as Fatboy Slim, and the pair have two children together: a son, Woody Fred Cook, born in 2000, and a daughter, Nelly May Lois Cook, who was born in 2010.
Zoe was the first woman to present the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show solo when her co-host Kevin Greening left the show in 1998.
She departed the role in 2000 and went on to become the first permanent female breakfast show host at BBC Radio 2 almost 19 years later.
Zoe is now presenting her new BBC Radio 2 show from 1pm to 3pm on Saturdays.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.