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 beforehand 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 begin of the present, Zoe mentioned: ‘Well, hello … and welcome to the crazy, dysfunctional radio family cousin Joely D (Joel Dommett, who presented the show before Ball’s), he completely smashed it.
‘It’s me Ballette, again as soon as again with the ill behaviour.
‘Should we kick off with this? Let’s get this present on the street, seat belts off, doorways to handbook.’
Her opening comment was taken from Renegade Master by DJ Wildchild, which was remixed by her ex-husband Norman Cook, who’s greatest identified as Fatboy Slim, in 1998 when it reached quantity three on the UK singles chart.
As Booker T And The MGs’ Green Onions performed in the backgroundon in the present day’s present, Zoe went on to ask if she nonetheless wanted to do time checks on the afternoon present or whether or not ‘everyone is just so relaxed and laid back that we don’t even want these any extra’.
She added: ‘It’s beautiful to be again on a Saturday, that is the place all of it started for me, again in the day once I used to brush up and make the teas, I used to do early mornings, after which I did the slot the place Rylan is.
‘In reality, I mentioned 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’s completely magnificent, Emily.
‘And, apparently, when Geoff with a G got home last night, she’d made one, wasn’t completely happy with it, made one other, she made three muffins.
‘Emily, you’re an absolute queen, thanks very a lot certainly.
‘See Nelly, my daughter, who was out at a rave on the beach last night, that’s what you possibly can be doing, clear dwelling life, thanks very a lot.’
Reading feedback despatched in from listeners, Zoe revealed she’d been having fun with ‘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 college run.’
Zoe was interrupted in the studio by Rylan strolling in, overjoyed to see her as she mentioned: ‘It’s gone off the rails already.’
‘There’s so many individuals right here on a Saturday,’ she mentioned, to which the Celebrity Gogglebox star replied: ‘It’s since you’re right here!’
‘Missed you so much! We’ll have a cuddle in a bit,’ he added.
The British DJ, who’s the daughter of former Play School presenter Johnny Ball, interviewed comic Roisin Conaty on the present.
When saying goodbye to her breakfast present for the ultimate time in December 2024, she acquired 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 children Woody and Nell for ‘filling her with wonder’, Zoe mentioned: ‘Pretty cool to be the first lass to host and I won’t be the final.’
In her closing speech, she went on: ‘It’s been an actual privilege to maintain you firm by means of your morning manoeuvres.
‘You’re simply there and I’m simply right here having a chat with a mate. It’s such a particular intimate relationship. It’s by no means misplaced on me.
‘We’ve been by means of life’s little highs and little lows collectively. I actually do hope we’ve been capable of convey some sunshine and lightweight while you’ve most wanted it, a daft distraction from the more durable stuff. I’ve been greatly surprised by your messages throughout the years. Thank you for sharing your tales with me.’
She continued: ‘Together there’s been a lot laughter, some silliness, a couple of tears, a lot of singing, and there was dancing. There will all the time be dancing.’
She added: ‘As the song says: “You give a little love and it all comes back to you.” Well I’ve most positively felt that love from you listeners. I really feel very fortunate to have been right here. I ship buckets of affection out to you and your expensive ones this Christmas. It’s been very particular.’
Former Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills took over her slot in January 2025 and his earlier weekday slot of 2pm to 4pm has been stuffed by Trevor Nelson.
Zoe took a break from internet hosting The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show in the summer season of 2024, returning in September.
After making the determination to depart in November, she revealed she wakes up most days with ‘awful headaches’ due to a health condition that causes ache in the jaw joint and surrounding muscle tissues.
She mentioned she had a temporomandibular (TMJ) joint dysfunction, which impacts the motion of the jaw, in accordance with the NHS.
Zoe was the BBC’s highest-paid on-air feminine presenter in 2023/24 with a wage between £950,000 and £954,999, rating her second on the listing of top-earning expertise behind Gary Lineker, in accordance with the company’s annual report printed in July 2024.
She was previously married to musician and DJ Norman Cook, known as Fatboy Slim, and the pair have two youngsters collectively: a son, Woody Fred Cook, born in 2000, and a daughter, Nelly May Lois Cook, who was born in 2010.
Zoe was the first girl to current the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show solo when her co-host Kevin Greening left the present in 1998.
She departed the function in 2000 and went on to grow to be the first everlasting feminine breakfast present host at BBC Radio 2 nearly 19 years later.
Zoe is now presenting her new BBC Radio 2 present from 1pm to 3pm on Saturdays.
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