BBC insider says 'nobody knows' in Zoe Ball update
A BBC insider has claimed 'nobody knows' why TV presenter and radio DJ Zoe Ball has been off air for five weeks. The BBC last week said the host, one of the highest-paid stars at the corporation, would be returning later this month
The 53-year-old broadcaster has not been on the The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show since she briefly returned to hosting on August 8, following a summer break. Both Gaby Roslin and Scott Mills have been sitting in for Ball.
On Friday, a Radio 2 spokeswoman said: “Zoe will return to the Radio 2 Breakfast Show later this month.” Ball, 53, took over the morning programme in 2019 from Chris Evans.
Evans left the BBC Radio 2 breakfast slot after eight years, and went to Virgin Radio. Ball was the first female host of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show in 1998, a post she held until 2000.
She also co-hosted the BBC’s Saturday morning children’s magazine Live & Kicking alongside Jamie Theakston for three years from 1996. Ball has presented the BBC spin-off show Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two, and ITV’s reality competition show Mamma Mia! I Have A Dream.
An insider told MailOnline the reason for Zoe being off for so long has not been made clear, saying: “nobody knows what has happened”. They added: “Nobody knows what has happened but everyone loves Zoe.”
They said to MailOnline: “We hope everything is okay. Zoe is so loved at the BBC so to not have her around is really noticeable.”
Zoe previously took a break from broadcasting earlier this year due to personal loss and health issues; she grappled with the grief of her mother passing away in April after a cancer diagnosis and had undergone emergency dental surgery.