Zoe Ball recalls emotional final moments with Billy Yates: 'He blew me a kiss, and that was the last time that I saw him'

Zoe Ball has opened up about her final moments with boyfriend Billy Yates, saying she wishes she’d told him how much she loved him.

Ball was left devastated after Yates committed suicide at his south London home last year following a battle with depression.

The It Takes Two presenter recently took part in a 350 mile charity bike ride from Blackpool to Brighton for Sport Relief in memory of the late cameraman.

In emotional scenes set to air in Zoe Ball’s Hardest Road, she opened up about how she wishes she had expressed her feelings for him more.

She said: “It was just that moment and that feeling of ‘Oh my god I love him so much, we’ll find some help and it will all be okay’. And I wish I’d told him that.”

She continued: “I just thought, whatever it is we have to do, I love him so much we will get through this somehow. He got on his bike and he cycled off and he turned round and he blew me a kiss, and that was the last time that I saw him.

“And I feel really grateful that I got my goodbye in a way. And I think that was my goodbye.”

Ball has raised more than £500,000 for Sport Relief by completing the cycling challenging which will be shown in tonight’s show.

She recently admitted to having moments where she questioned whether or not she could have done more.

Speaking to Radio Times in her first interview since his death, she said: “I sometimes think, ‘I’m a resourceful woman, I’m a bright woman… why could I not save him?

“And then I have to stop and say, ‘Everyone who loved him knew. None of us found an answer, none of us saved him’.”

Zoe Ball’s Hardest Road is on BBC One, tonight at 9pm

Samaritans provides confidential support to anyone feeling down and depressed or struggling to cope. Volunteers can be contacted round the clock by phone on 116 123, or you can e-mail jo@samaritans.org.