£1.2m Zoe...
Why I do deserve this job
ZOE Ball has brushed off the idea she landed BBC Radio 2’s flagship show due to her gender, saying she is the right person for the job.
The broadcaster, 48, also said she was delighted with her £1.2million Breakfast Show salary, despite it being less than that of predecessor Chris Evans.
Earlier this week, former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson suggested that no one
“with a scrotum” has a chance of getting a big job with the BBC any more.
Zoe, who will be the first woman to host the Radio 2 show on Monday, said: “I’ve always felt all the jobs I’ve ever got are on merit.
“I’m such a Beeb girl, they’ve always been great to me. I’ve worked at ITV and Channel 4, but the BBC has always felt like home. I really hope everyone says, ‘She got the job as she was the right person’.”
Earlier this week it emerged that new Question Time host Fiona Bruce will get the same pay packet as David Dimbleby. Zoe’s earnings will quadruple from the £300,000 she got for Strictly’s sister programme It Takes Two and her Saturday afternoon Radio 2 show.
But her pay is still around £400,000 less than the £1.6million Chris earned.
Zoe said: “I’m really pleased with what the BBC are going to pay me for this job and I hope my female peers will be happy I got the deal that I did.
“I do think, of course, that women and men should be paid the same. And I do know that within the BBC, they are doing everything they can to address that issue.”
Zoe was the first woman to present Radio 1’s Breakfast Show, and is aware of the scrutiny she now faces as she follows Chris and the late Sir Terry Wogan.
Fronting a 6.30am show in London also means a 3.30am alarm to travel from her home in Sussex.
But the mum of two said she is more prepared for it this time. Zoe said: “The thing that feels different this time is that I’ve had 20 years of experience since going into the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, which was the first radio I’d really done.
“Now I’ve been at Radio 2, on and off, for about 12 years. The timing just felt really good, like I was really lucky that this happened at this point. I feel ready.”
And although Zoe admitted to “anxiety dreams” ahead of the show’s launch, she said her team is feeling positive.
She said: “We are really confident that we can give a good breakfast show. If we do our best, whatever happens, we’ll be able to hold our heads high and say, ‘We really worked hard’. “
Zoe makes her debut the same day her pal Sara Cox, 44, starts on Radio 2 Drivetime. But she insisted she was not envious of her colleague’s lie-ins.
Zoe said: “To be the first woman on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show and then the first woman on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show, how fantastic is that?
“I feel like we both got a great gig and we’re really supportive of each other.”
Though Sara, who was Chris’ regular stand-in on breakfast, admitted she was glad of a later start. She said: “Doing breakfast is quite tiring.
“By 4pm I was kind of horrible to my kids. Breakfast is a great gig, it’s great money, but I can’t mop up my kids’ tears with a wad of 50s.” Zoe starts the job on daughter Nelly’s ninth birthday. The youngster vowed to tune in for one day.
Zoe, who also has son Woody, 18, said the pair backed her new role. She said: “I’ve worked Saturdays for so long, Nelly would always be, ‘Oh, Mummy, please, why do you have to go?’
“I just took my kids to Paris for the weekend, we had the most glorious time. I said to Nelly, ‘We’ll be able to do this all the time now’.”
Boyfriend Michael Reed also supports her decision. Zoe said: “All my loved ones were like, ‘Go for it’. I don’t really have a major social life, I love an early night. When I do It Takes Two, I’ve got my pyjamas on by 7.45pm.”
She added of keeping the 8.8 million listeners happy: “You’ve just got to be yourself. A lot of listeners have been sending me really positive messages. I read them and ignore the bad ones.”
■ The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show starts on Monday, 6.30am, BBC Radio 2.