Zoe Ball makes radio return after ‘having a few lie-ins’ since leaving breakfast slot
Zoe Ball has returned back to “where it all began” on BBC Radio 2 with a new weekend show after stepping back from the coveted weekday breakfast slot in December.
The radio presenter, 54, has returned to the station for her new show on Saturday afternoons, as part of her more relaxed schedule after being “knackered” from the 4am starts she had, five days a week, while hosting the BBC Radio 2 breakfast show for five years.
Kicking off her new programme on Saturday (3 May), Ball said: “Hello it’s me, oh 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 used to do the slot where Rylan [Clarke] is [at 3pm].”
The presenter admitted that she’s “had a few lie-ins” since leaving the programme and that people have now learnt “not to phone me before half-past-nine”. Fellow co-host Rylan then popped into the studio, and they shared a hug as she continued with the show.
Ball chose American singer Ravyn Lenae’s 2024 song “Love Me Not” as her opening track, followed by Christopher Cross’s 1979 song “Ride Like The Wind”.
Fans have been celebrating her return online. “Hasn’t been the same without ‘The Ball’ welcome back, Zoe!” wrote one listener, as another added: “Already back being the best show on the schedule.”
Ball stepped down from the coveted morning slot at the end of 2024 to “focus on family” following the death of her mother, who died from cancer in April last year.
She took over from Chris Evans on the show in 2019, becoming the station’s first full-time female breakfast presenter in the process. Scott Mills replaced her in January.
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Ball’s father Johnny, recently told Saga magazine that his daughter was in “such a good place” since adapting to her new schedule.
He told the publication: “Her mum died last year and she’s had various other problems, but she’s chuffed to have packed in the Radio 2 breakfast show, as she’s realised every day has 24 hours now.
“Her days used to start at 4am and by the time it got to midday she was knackered. She visited me recently and said: ‘I’m in such a good place.’”
Her departure from Radio 2 came after she took time off in April 2024 to care for her mother, Julie Peckham, who was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer earlier that year. In April, Peckham died aged 74, and Zoe was absent from the show with Gaby Roslin and Scott Mills stepping in to cover her.
In November, after Zoe revealed she would be leaving, she announced she had a temporomandibular joint disorder, which affects the movement of the jaw, according to the NHS.
She has said that she wakes up most days with “awful headaches” due to a health condition which causes pain in the jaw joint and surrounding muscles.
After she left the show, her son Woody, who she shares with ex-husband Fatboy Slim, revealed that his mother was adapting to a slower pace of life and was working in a beachside café owned by the DJ, real name Norman Cook.
“These crazy party people I grew up with are now gardening, making puzzles and working in the local café,” Woody told MailOnline of his parents.
