Zoe Ball questions why she gave up BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show job
Zoe Ball left her BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show job in December to "focus on family", but her daughter, Nelly Cook, is never at home.
Zoe Ball questions why she quit her BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show job to be with Nelly when she is never at home.
The 54-year-old broadcaster - who has her 15-year-old daughter and 24-year-old son Woody with her ex-husband, 62-year-old DJ Fatboy Slim - stepped down from the coveted presenting slot in December after six years to "focus on family", but Nelly is always out with her friends.
Appearing on the latest episode of comedians Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe's Parenting Hell podcast, Zoe said: "I gave up work because she's going to do her GCSEs, but she's never here, she's out with her mates.
"I'm like, 'I've given up work for you! What did I give up for?'
"Yeah, I have thought about it because I've been through this a bit with Woody, but I had the joy of having Nelly still around."
Zoe gave up her £950,000-a-year salary from her Radio 2 Breakfast Show job - following her mum Julia's death from cancer in 2024 - so she could support Nelly with her exams, as well as help her navigate the difficulties of being a teenager.
The broadcaster - who was replaced by DJ Scott Mills, 51, on the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast show - added: "It's only since giving up the breakfast show that I now do the school run in the morning, and I love it.
"She's got GCSEs this year, but that was part of giving up the breakfast show. I was like, I really want to be there for her because it's going to be a tough year.
"And also for girls, 15, is booze and boys. It's a nightmare. It's an absolute minefield."
Zoe - who returned to Radio 2 in May to present her afternoon Saturday show - split from Fatboy Slim, real name Norman Cook, in September 2016 after 18 years together, with their divorce finalised in 2020.
After their split, she struck up a romance with TV cameraman Billy Yates, who took his own life following a long battle with depression, aged 40 in May 2017.
Zoe was then in a relationship with 48-year-old fashion model-and-carpenter Michael Reed, until 2023.
And elsewhere in her Parenting Hell podcast interview, the broadcaster revealed Woody and Nelly give her relationship advice.
She said: "My kids give me advice on my relationships.
"Like, 'Mum, maybe you're overreacting, maybe you're being a bit - maybe just calm down.'"
Rob then said: "I think if you've done your job well, your children are emotionally more intelligent than you."
Agreeing, Zoe replied: "Yeah, exactly. And mine definitely are.
"I mean, to be honest with you, they were more emotionally intelligent than me at five."
Despite being divorced from Fatboy Slim, he and Zoe have remained close friends, and she appreciates him always being there.
She said: "The one really good thing is he will be there at the drop of a hat anytime.
"So if one of us can't be there, he's always there. And we support each other very well like that.
"And he's always available on the end of a text if there's some serious parenting to be done, which recently there has been - young Nelly Cook."
But Zoe does get annoyed by the DJ always working and is sometimes not available to be with Woody and Nelly.
She said: "The only frustrating thing, I suppose, is that he is always working because he loves what he does.
"So sometimes I'm like, 'Oi, that's my weekend, oi.'
"But actually, that works out quite well, but he loves what he does. So I think he's done more gigs this year than ever.
"So sometimes I'm like, 'Are you ever going to be around?'
"But he does try, and he's always trying to be around for the kids."
