- Zoë Ball
Infobox Celebrity
name = Zoë Ball
caption =
birth_date = birth date and age|df=yes|1970|11|23
birth_place =Blackpool ,Lancashire ,England
death_date =
death_place =
occupation =Presenter
salary =
networth =
parents =Johnny Ball
spouse = Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim)
website =
footnotes =
children = 1Zoë Louise Ball (born 23 November 1970 in
Blackpool ,Lancashire ) is an English television and radio personality, most famous for becoming the first female host of theBBC Radio 1 breakfast show and less recently for her presenting of 90s kids showLive & Kicking .Biography
TV career
The daughter of children's TV presenter
Johnny Ball , Zoë Ball grew up inBeaconsfield ,Buckinghamshire and was educated at a convent school and asixth form college . Her first TV appearance was as a child in the studio audience of Saturday morning children's show "Saturday Superstore ", on which her father was appearing as a guest.She began her television career as a runner at
Granada Television and researcher on BSkyB. She worked as a researcher for quiz shows for two years. Her presenting jobs have included hosting "The Big Breakfast " and "The Priory" onChannel 4 ,BBC One 's Saturday morning children's programme "Live & Kicking " and pre-school programme "Playdays ". Between 1996-1998 she was a regular presenter onTop of the Pops usually alternating with fellow presenters and DJsJayne Middlemiss andJo Whiley . The three only ever presented together once on Christmas Day 1997.Ball co-hosted the 2002
BRIT Awards withFrank Skinner , following which motherhood meant that she took less TV work.In 2005 after co-hosting the BBC reality show "
Strictly Dance Fever ", Ball became a contestant on its sister show "Strictly Come Dancing ", partnering withIan Waite . Ball and Waite ranked 3rd place.Performance
At the end of 2006, Ball co-hosted
ITV1 's "Extinct", with Sir Trevor McDonald.In January 2007, she presented the second series of
ITV1 's "Soapstar Superstar ", taking over fromFern Britton andBen Shephard , who hosted the first series.In March 2007, she hosted
ITV talent search "Grease Is the Word ".Radio career
Although known primarily for her TV work, it was in radio where Ball became a major British celebrity after she was recruited to co-host the
BBC Radio 1 breakfast show in October 1997 withKevin Greening . She eventually graduated to become the sole host - the first female DJ to do so. At this time, her hard-drinking, hard-partying antics contributed to the identification of the so-called "ladette culture" of the late 1990s. She later notoriously re-created the naked pose on a backturned chair made famous byChristine Keeler when doing an interview and spread with "SKY" magazine.Ball left BBC Radio 1 in March 2000 to raise a family. Her final breakfast show was on the 30 March 2000, and she was succeeded by
Sara Cox .Though regarded as professional, Ball twice received a BBC warning for swearing on the radio - first when she used the word "bastard" while being interviewed by Chris Evans during his stint on the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show (she was publicising her appointment to "The Big Breakfast" at the time); then, as host of the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show, for using the expression "f****** brilliant" to describe a night out she had.
She returned to radio in mid 2002 when she joined London's Rock Station
XFM , where she presented the Weekday Drivetime show until December 2003 & then in January 2004 took over a Friday evening music show for the station. She also stood in forRicky Gervais whilst he filmed the second series of "The Office". She eventually leftXFM at the end of 2004.She has recently made brief appearances on radio presenting documentaries for
BBC Radio 2 , and also sat in forDermot O'Leary for 3 weeks in February 2006.In September 2007, she celebrated 40 years of Radio 1 by hosting a show with Sara Cox.
From August 2008 Zoe will be hosting the weekend breakfast show on BBC Radio 6.
Personal life
While at BBC Radio 1, Ball began a relationship with DJ and musician Norman Cook (a.k.a. Fatboy Slim). The couple married in August 1999.
The couple have one son, Woody (born December 2000), and live in
Shoreham .The marriage later survived a trial separation in early 2003, during which Ball had an affair with DJ Dan Peppe. [ [http://www.myislington.co.uk/islington/celebs&gossip-dan_peppe.htm DJ Dan Peppe ] ]
References
External links
*imdb name|id=0050493|name=Zoë Ball
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.