From children’s TV to the cha-cha-chá:
How Zoe Ball’s star has risen
1996-99: Live & Kicking
After breaking into children’s TV with a two-year stint on CBBC art programme Smart,
Ball moved to the BBC’S Saturday kids show. She brought it to its peak of popularity, winning a Bafta for her final episode.
1996: Big Breakfast
Ball took over from Gaby Roslin on the anarchic Channel 4 show. In the true spirit of the programme, Ball’s first appearance on the show saw her tripping over and falling through glass.
1997: Radio 1
Ball joined the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, initially as Kevin Greening’s co-host, then as the first woman to present it solo, before handing the baton to Sara Cox in 2000. Ball later spent almost a decade as a stand-in presenter on Radio 2, before getting her own afternoon show on the station in 2017.
1997: Grease is the Word
A rare flop for Ball, this Simon Cowell-produced ITV talent show clashed with the BBC’S similar contest Any Dream Will Do, which trounced it in the ratings. Meanwhile, Ball was
an occasional Top of the
Pops host.
1999: The Priory
Ball reunited with Live & Kicking costar Jamie Theakston for this chat show aimed at teens. It taught her to choose her words carefully, she said: “Once you’re dealing with 18-year-olds, you can’t say anything ambiguous without everyone going fnar-fnar.”
2005: Strictly Come Dancing
She came within a hair’s breadth of victory in the third season, walzing into third place with Ian Waite.
2011: It Takes Two
Replaced Claudia Winkleman as host of BBC Two’s Strictly spin-off, a role she is planning to keep.
2018: Hardest Road Home
Ball cycled 350 miles from Blackpool to Brighton for a Sport Relief documentary, which raised awareness about male depression and suicide.