Zoe Ball has defined that she stop her BBC Radio 2 breakfast present gig to be there for her daughter Nelly, 15, as she navigates GCSEs – however that {the teenager} is rarely at dwelling anyway.
The 54-year-old broadcaster received candid on the most recent episode of comedians Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe’s Parenting Hell podcast, whereas discussing her and ex-husband Fatboy Slim’s two youngsters; Nelly, 15, and Woody, 25.
Throughout the chat, she touched on her Radio 2 breakfast present exit, and admitted issues haven’t fairly labored out as she anticipated.
‘I gave up work as a result of she’s going to do her GCSEs, however she’s by no means right here, she’s out together with her mates,’ Zoe defined of Nelly because the co-hosts chuckled.
‘I’m like, “I’ve given up be just right for you!”‘ mentioned Zoe, who turned her again on a £950,000-a-year wage following her mum Julia’s dying from most cancers in 2024, so she might assist Nelly together with her exams, in addition to assist her navigate the difficulties of being a youngster.


The broadcaster – who was changed by DJ Scott Mills, 51, on the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast present final yr – added: ‘It’s solely since giving up the breakfast present that I now do the college run within the morning, and I find it irresistible.#
‘She’s received GCSEs this yr, however that was a part of giving up the breakfast present. I used to be like, I actually wish to be there for her as a result of it’s going to be a tricky yr.
‘And in addition for women, 15 is booze and boys. It’s a nightmare. It’s an absolute minefield.’
Zoe – who returned to Radio 2 in Might to current her afternoon Saturday present – cut up from Fatboy Slim, actual identify Norman Cook dinner, in September 2016 after 18 years collectively, with their divorce finalised in 2020.
Whereas a lot of Zoe’s pals went by way of ‘poisonous’ divorces, she stays shut pals with the DJ, who she referred to as a ‘sensible dad’.
She mentioned: ‘The one actually good factor is he might be there on the drop of a hat anytime.
‘So if one in all us can’t be there, he’s all the time there. And we assist one another very effectively like that.
‘And he’s all the time obtainable on the top of a textual content if there’s some critical parenting to be finished, which lately there was, younger Nelly Cook dinner.’
However Zoe does get aggravated by the DJ working greater than ever.


‘The one irritating factor, I suppose, is that he’s all the time working as a result of he loves what he does,’ she mentioned. ‘So typically I’m like, “Oi, that’s my weekend, oi.”
‘However really, that works out fairly effectively, however he loves what he does. So I believe he’s finished extra gigs this yr than ever.’
After their cut up, Zoe struck up a romance with TV cameraman Billy Yates, who took his personal life following an extended battle with melancholy, aged 40 in Might 2017.
Zoe was then in a relationship with 48-year-old trend model-and-carpenter Michael Reed till 2023.

Elsewhere in her Parenting Hell podcast interview, the broadcaster revealed Woody and Nelly give her relationship recommendation.
She mentioned: ‘My youngsters give me recommendation on my relationships.Like, “Mum, perhaps you’re overreacting, perhaps you’re being a bit… Possibly simply settle down.”‘
Rob replied: ‘I believe when you’ve finished your job effectively, your youngsters are emotionally extra clever than you.’
Agreeing, Zoe confirmed: ‘Yeah, precisely. And mine undoubtedly are. I imply, to be trustworthy with you, they had been extra emotionally clever than me at 5.’
Zoe additionally defined how gardening is her blissful place and mused that in just a few years she would possibly get a job in a backyard centre
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