Zoe Louise Ball (born 23 November 1970) is a British broadcaster and presenter. She was the first female host of the Radio 1 and Radio 2 breakfast shows for the BBC, and in 2024 was confirmed as the second-highest-paid BBC presenter after Gary Lineker.
In 2018, Ball was announced as the new host of The Radio 2 Breakfast Show and took over from Chris Evans in January 2019, before stepping down from the programme in December 2024.
Ball presented the children's show Live & Kicking, alongside Jamie Theakston, from 1996 to 1999. In 2005, she was a contestant in the third series of Strictly Come Dancing. Following this, in 2011 she replaced Claudia Winkleman as host of the BBC Two spin-off show Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two until her departure in 2021. Ball also hosted the Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour in 2011 and 2015.
Zoe Louise Ball was born on 23 November 1970 in Blackpool, Lancashire. She is the daughter of the children's TV presenter Johnny Ball and his wife Julia (née Anderson). The couple divorced when Ball was two and she was raised with her father.
Ball was educated at Heston Junior School in the district of Hounslow between 1975 and 1978. Her family then moved to Farnham Common in Buckinghamshire. She attended Farnham Common First School and Farnham Common Middle School, before moving to Holy Cross Convent School in Chalfont St Peter and Amersham College of Art and Technology for a "City & Guilds in radio and journalism". When she was in her teens, she seriously considered trying to find work as a magician's assistant.
Ball began her television career as a presenter on the pre-school programme Playdays.
From 1993–1995 she was also a presenter on Children's BBC.
Ball became a runner at Granada Television and researcher for Cool Cube (1990–1994), a children's Saturday afternoon magazine show, produced at Granada's studio in Manchester, by Clear Idea Television, and broadcast on the British Satellite Broadcasting channel Galaxy.
From 1994–1996, Ball presented SMart with Mark Speight and Jay Burridge. In 1995, Ball hosted Fully Booked for the first series. In 1997 and 1998, she was a regular presenter on Top of the Pops, usually alternating with fellow presenters and DJs Jayne Middlemiss and Jo Whiley.
In 1996, Ball was a co-host with Jamie Theakston in BBC One's Saturday morning children's programme Live & Kicking. In 1998, television personality Chris Evans was a guest of the show, and later employed both Ball and Theakston to co-host the Channel 4 Wednesday night chat/music show The Priory, under Ginger Productions.
Ball’s presenting jobs have also included hosting The Big Breakfast on Channel 4,
Ball co-hosted the 2002 Brit Awards with Frank Skinner, In 2005, she co-hosted the BBC reality show Strictly Dance Fever. In 2006, Ball co-hosted the ITV programme Extinct, alongside Trevor McDonald.
In January 2007, Ball presented the second series of ITV's Soapstar Superstar, taking over from Fern Britton and Ben Shephard, who hosted the first series. In March 2007, she hosted the ITV talent search Grease Is the Word.
Alongside Jamie Theakston, Ball presented Channel 5's quiz series Britain's Best Brain in 2009. Ball has guest presented several episodes of The One Show as a stand-in for Alex Jones.
On 4 August 2013, as hostess of a special entitled Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor, she revealed Peter Capaldi as the incoming Twelfth Doctor and hosted his first interview in that capacity.
In November 2013, Ball co-hosted the BBC One Children in Need telethon, alongside Sir Terry Wogan, Fearne Cotton, Nick Grimshaw and Tess Daly. In 2014, Ball presented a BBC Two spin-off from The Voice UK called The Voice: Louder on Two. The show aired for one series of ten episodes.
In 2015, Ball hosted EastEnders: Backstage Live, a spin-off show during the EastEnders live week. She co-presented the BBC Young Dancer competition with Darcey Bussell on BBC Two.
Ball also narrated two ITV specials, The Nation's Favourite '70s Number One and The Nation's Favourite '80s Number One, as well as the BBC One series Don't Tell the Bride. In 2016, Ball co-presented Can't Touch This, a Saturday night game show for BBC One, alongside Ashley Banjo.