Since first barrelling onto our screens as a staple of Saturday morning TV back in the 1990’s Zoe Ball has continued to capture the hearts of the nation as a BBC radio DJ and of course, as the host of Strictly Come Dancing ’s It Takes Two.
Yet while the star is a bubbly and indomitable personality on both the airwaves and our screens, one thing that may surprise fans is how her love life has unfolded since first shooting to stardom.
From a 17 year marriage to DJ Fatboy Slim, through to a devastating tragedy that saw her lose another partner, Antiques Roadshow crew member Billy Yates to suicide in 2016, suffice to say there have been plenty of ups and downs in Zoe’s romantic life so far.
Zoe Ball has had quite the journey to finding love over the years
(Image: BBC – Photographer: Ray Burmiston)
But as she sits down to give her take on the latest TV shows in tonight’s instalment of Celebrity Gogglebox, we take a closer look at her love life away from the cameras.
Marriage to Fatboy Slim
Zoe and Norman found love together after bonding over music
Zoe’s first romance came with husband Norman Cook, who is better known to fans for his DJ persona Fatboy Slim. The couple first began dating in the late 1990’s while she was working at BBC Radio 1.
The pair initially met when BBC bosses informed the radio host that the show was going out to Ibiza during the peak of the summer months to produce a show alongside the chart-topping DJ.
Reflecting on their relationship several years later, Zoe even confessed that although she’d never met him before that day, she had enjoyed his rolodex of music during her childhood – with one of their main bonds being over a shared love of music.
She told radio listeners: “I’d never met Norman before but I loved Fatboy Slim, I’d loved the Housemartins and if you’d have shown me a video of the Housemartins when I was 15 years old and said, ‘You’re going to marry him, that guy in the video there’ I’d be like ‘Are you crazy? Of course I’m not!’
“I just thought he’s wild and free and fun and it was sort of the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
Zoe Ball and son Woody showed their close relationship on Gogglebox
(Image: CHANNEL 4)
Starting out as just friends, romance soon blossomed between the pair, with Zoe admitting she was actually the one to make the first move.
“It took us a while to get to know each other, “ she admitted. “There was a bit of wooing involved and the old way of wooing of course, was the classic mixtape. So, I made Norman a mixtape, Who makes a DJ a mixtape?”
A short while later, Norman made an honest woman of Zoe in 1999 when she was just 33, as he popped the all important question to the blushing bride.
The happy couple welcomed two beautiful children throughout their marriage, their 22-year-old son Woody and 13-year-old daughter Nelly – with Woody even having appeared with her on Gogglebox.
Sadly however, the relationship soon soured and the couple famously parted ways after 18 years together in 2016.
Tragedy strikes with Billy Yates
Zoe Ball opened up about the tragic loss of her partner Billy Yates after he took his own life in 2017
(Image: Instagram)
After splitting from Norman, Zoe soon embarked on a romance with Antiques Roadshow crew member Billy Yates in 2016. Initially things between the pair seemed to be going well, with the couple happily, but casually dating for a number of months.
Sadly however, their blossoming romance was soon cut short, when the cameraman was found dead in his home in Putney on May 4, 2017 having taken his own life at the age of 40.
Heartbroken by the news, Zoe was understandably overcome with grief, as she had previously been “head over heels” for Billy and thought things had been going well between the pair.
Her father, kid’s TV star Johnny Ball previously said at the time that his daughter was “very happy” with Billy and described her late partner as “lovely”.
Reflecting on his death in 2018, Zoe told her listeners on Desert Island Disks that getting over his death was the “hardest thing” she’s ever dealt with.
Zoe said: “He’d lived with depression for a huge chunk of his life. It’s so hard to sit and watch someone you love and care for struggle with mental health. Losing him was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with in my life.”
Finding love again with Michael Reed
Zoe and Michael reportedly split after five years in May 2023
(Image: James Veysey/REX/Shutterstock)
Two years after Billy’s heartbreaking death, Zoe once again turned her attention towards the possibility of love, when she began dating Michael Reed, a construction firm boss in 2018.
The relationship first went public in 2018, after The Sun revealed they’d enjoyed a raunchy night together in London.
Sadly however, the romance was short-lived and they broke up a year later, with some of Zoe’s friends concerned that Michael used her status to boost his own career.
A source told the publication at the time: “Zoe knew deep down the relationship wasn’t going anywhere.
“She enjoyed her time with Michael but came to the conclusion he wasn’t a keeper, despite him believing they were getting serious. There were certain things she grew uncomfortable with, such as him wanting to become a model and actor.
“Her close circle feared he was using her to enhance his own career.”
Despite their fears and the split, the couple were later able to reconcile and have remained a strong and solid couple for around five years before once again being hit by drama in May 2023.
The presenter, 52, had been dating model Michael, also 52, for the past five years, but according to reports, the relationship has now “run its course” and the pair have separated.
It’s also believed that Michael has been asked to vacate the couples’ home in East Sussex, amid the split.
According to a source close to Zoe, things between the pair hadn’t been great for a while between the two, and said: “Zoe is gutted but she’s better off without Michael.”
Celebrity Gogglebox continues every Friday at 9pm on Channel 4.
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