Reformed party girl Zoe Ball "loves" that she can't go out ahead of 50th birthday bash
EXCLUSIVE: The TV presenter clocks up half a century next month but while the nation bemoans the closure of bars and clubs, the reformed party girl is actually relieved she can't go out
Zoe Ball was famous for dancing on tables and drinking men under them during her hellraising days.
But the partying will be on ice when the reformed ladette clocks up her half century next month.
“I’m going to be 50 in a few weeks,” says Zoe. “I wanted to have a big old shebang – a club or a disco, and cocktails.”
“That has all been put on hold because of the dreaded c-word. I’ll just have to do it next year.”
While much of the country bemoans the closure of bars and clubs, former party girl Zoe doesn’t mind, having been sober for four years.
“I personally love the fact I can’t go out any more,” she says. “I was doing it for 30 years.
She has spent lockdown with her partner Michael Reed and two children Woody, 19, and Nelly, 10, from her marriage to DJ Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim.
The family recently packed Woody off to university before Zoe and construction boss Michael, 50, moved into their first home together in East Sussex.
“I was really lucky all my loved ones stayed really safe,” says Zoe. “I’ve had friends who’ve lost people. When you see how it affects people it does hit home.
“I’ve got friends who have been left with long Covid. It’s scary. We’ve just been enjoying time at home. Nelly did a Fatgirl Slim set and we whack that on now and again.”
Zoe will be back on screen tomorrow fronting the show that has revived her career – Strictly Come Dancing ’s sister show It Takes Two.
The BBC’s highest-paid presenter says her impending big birthday and the global pandemic has made her go over some of the landmarks in her life.
“It’s a funny old time as a woman because you get menopausal, which brings with it loads of interesting things,” she says.
“You get a bit reflective and look back. Especially after the year we’ve had.
“Social media is great. This clip popped up of me and Hulk Hogan from Big Breakfast. You forget you’ve done these things.
“I was reading Phillip Schofield’s book this week about the CBBC Broom Cupboard and I think, ‘God, I’ve done so much’.”
Blackpool-born Zoe started out on 1980s show Saturday Superstore, when guests included her dad, TV legend Johnny Ball, now 82.
She started her presenting career on Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast and the BBC1 Saturday morning children’s programme Live and Kicking.
In 1997, riding the wave of Britpop and “ladettism” and all the excesses that went with it, she became the first female host of Radio 1’s breakfast show.
Two years later she was famously pictured wearing a cowboy hat, with a cigarette and a bottle of Jack Daniels, stumbling towards her wedding with Norman Cook.
After a break to raise a family and to tackle her former issues with alcohol, she came back to television with a bang in the 2005 series of Strictly Come Dancing and eight years later she began to present the spin-off It Takes Two.
Her marriage to Norman, 57, ended in 2016 and she began a relationship with cameraman Bill Yates, who tragically took his own life in 2017.
She has been with construction boss Michael since 2018, the year she took over the Radio 2 breakfast show from Chris Evans.
This year it was revealed that thanks to her multiple roles on radio and TV and Gary Lineker’s £400,000 pay cut she was now the corporation’s highest earner on £1.36million a year.
Despite flying the flag for women, she did face a backlash over the mammoth paycheck.
But Zoe says simply: “I’m grateful to still be working – that people want me to present things. I love what I do and will continue as long as people want me.”
She will front It Takes Two from Monday to Wednesday, while Rylan Clark-Neal hosts it on Thursday and Friday.
There have been rumours the pair clashed – which they just laugh off.
Zoe jokes: “We can’t even be in the same room.” Rylan, 31, laughs: “I can’t stand the b****!”
In fact, the pair are missing giving each other a big hug.
“The first thing I wanted to do when I saw Rylan was jump on him but I can’t,” says Zoe.
“It may seem boring but we do have to stay two metres apart now.
“One of the main reasons we sign up for the show is getting up close to the dancers.
“They do smell really good. If I don’t get a fondle with Anton Du Beke, what’s the point in coming to work?”
Rylan added: “The show is one big cuddle but unfortunately there will be none of that this year.”
So what do they think about the chances of a revival of the Strictly curse – which has seen the demise of many relationships over the years – now that social distancing rules are in place? “Everyone loves a drama,” says Rylan.
“This year it’s not the Strictly curse people need to worry about, it’s the Strictly corona.”
With insider knowledge of this year’s celebrities, who have they got their eye on?
“Bill Bailey – what a signing,” reckons Zoe. “Maisie is amazing. Clara’s got the moves. Jason – well, hello.”
Supermarket Sweep host Rylan adds: “The first same-sex couple is a big thing for a Strictly audience.
“As a gay man myself, it’s a great thing. I know it’s what Nicola Adams wanted. Katya Jones is the perfect woman for her.”
So what does Rylan think about Zoe hitting 50? “She doesn’t look a day over 55,” he laughs, then whispering: “Nana’s always having a nap in the corner...”
- It Takes Two starts Monday on BBC Two at 6.30pm
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