The former BBC Radio 2 presenter shared a major update.
Zoe Ball makes huge career move (Image: BBC)
Former BBC Radio 2 star Zoe Ball has announced that she will be moving to a rival radio station – Greatest Hits Radio. The 55-year-old veteran broadcaster will host the weekday afternoon show from September 7.
Greatest Hits Radio announced her arrival with a tongue-in-cheek Traitors-inspired trailer, captioned: “One more from the old place! Please welcome our newest recruit.” The clip then showed Zoe entering the studio carrying a lantern before lowering her hood and telling former Radio 2 colleagues Ken Bruce and Simon Mayo: “I couldn’t let you two have all the fun, could I?” In another clip, shared to Instagram, Zoe declared: “This is amazing!” She added that she will be playing “fantastic hits from the 70s, 80s and 90s.” Zoe also said: “I’ve missed it and this felt like the right time to begin a new chapter with Greatest Hits Radio.”
Zoe stepped down from her BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show in 2024 before later leaving her Saturday afternoon programme.
She took an extended break from the Breakfast show after the death of her mother, Julia, from pancreatic cancer in April 2024, but announced her departure just months later.
Zoe opened up on how her grief had caused her to suffer from anxiety.
Speaking on her Dig It podcast with Jo Whiley, Ball said: “I started to have panic attacks and I think it was from grief, because that’s when it started for me.”
She added: “Then along came perimenopause as well and I started to have crippling anxiety to the point where I was struggling to work or get through a show.”
Being open and honest about her struggles, Zoe admitted that she had been taking a low dose of the antidepressant sertraline for two years to help manage her symptoms.
She then told fans that she has since “come out of it” and encouraged others experiencing similar struggles to speak to their GP.
While at the BBC, the radio host was reportedly one of the corporation’s highest-paid presenters, earning £950,000 a year.
Her comeback comes just weeks after Ball revealed she had been left dealing with “grief and rejection” after missing out on the chance to host Strictly Come Dancing, which ultimately went to Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe.
