Zoe Ball departing BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show to ‘focus on family’

Zoe Ball will step down from presenting BBC Radio 2’s Breakfast Show next month to “focus on family”, but said she is “really chuffed” for Scott Mills who will take over the slot.

Ball took over presenting the morning programme in 2019 from Chris Evans and announced her departure on Tuesday after six years, saying it was time for her to “step away from the very early mornings and focus on family”.

She will host her last show on December 20 with Mills, who currently hosts Radio 2’s weekday afternoon programme from 2-4pm, set to begin fronting the programme from early January.

Fellow BBC radio presenter and TV star Rylan Clark thanked Ball for “being the best wake up for the past 6 years”, while also congratulating Mills in a post on Instagram stories, writing: “Scott, I’ve never been more happy for someone. If you grazed your knee you would bleed radio. I know how much this means to you and I’m so so proud of you”.

Ball said she is “really chuffed for my mate” as she and Mills posed for photographs outside New Broadcasting House in London following the announcements on Tuesday.

She told reporters she is “so proud” of Mills.

“It has all turned out nicely,” she said. “I’m really chuffed for my mate and really excited about it.”

During her Tuesday show, Ball told listeners: “You know I think the world of you all listeners, and it truly has been such a privilege to share the mornings with you, to go through life’s little ups and downs, we got through the lockdown together, didn’t we?

“We’ve shared a hell of a lot, the good times, the tough times, there’s been a lot of laughter. And I am going to miss you cats.”

She added: “But I won’t miss the 4am alarm call, if I’m completely honest.”

Ball was previously married to Norman Cook, known as Fatboy Slim, and the pair have two children together, son Woody Fred Cook, born in 2000, and daughter Nelly who was born in 2010.

She 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.

She was the first female host of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show in 1998, a post she held until 2000, and she also co-hosted the BBC’s Saturday morning children’s magazine Live & Kicking alongside Jamie Theakston for three years from 1996.

Ball took a break from hosting her show over the summer, returning in September, and in April this year announced the death of her mother Julia Peckham.

Mills reflected on his long-time friendship with Ball and said of taking over from her: “She’s done an incredible job on this show over the past six years, and I am beyond excited to be handed the baton.

“It feels ever since recording my first shows as a kid for an audience of one, my mum, all roads since have led to this amazing opportunity.

“It really is a lifelong dream come true to follow in the footsteps of Sir Terry, Chris and Zoe to be the new presenter of the Radio 2 Breakfast Show.”

Ball said she would not be “disappearing entirely” but added: “I’ll still be a part of the Radio 2 family, with more news in the new year.

“I’m excited to embrace my next chapter, including being a mum in the mornings, and I can’t wait to tune in on the school run.”

The duo spoke on air after the announcements, with Mills expressing his gratitude for the support Ball has given him throughout his career, including attending his wedding to husband Sam Vaughan earlier this year.

Mills said: “I wasn’t sure if you could make it, because I know you’ve had such a tough year, but on the big day, or actually the day before, I remember, on the Friday, you texted me like, I’m on the plane. And I shouted to Sam ‘Zoe’s on the plane’, and I was so glad that you could come.”

Ball replied saying: “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world… and to see you and Sam, and to see how in love you are, and you know, which we all got to see on Race Across The World. And I love you both to pieces. You are going to be amazing at this job”.

Helen Thomas, head of Radio 2, said: “Zoe has woken up the nation on Radio 2 with incredible warmth, wit and so much joy since January 2019, and I’d like to thank her for approaching each show with as much vim and vigour as if it were her first.”

Trevor Nelson will take over BBC Radio 2’s weekday afternoon slot from 2pm to 4pm when Mills departs.