Zoe Ball, a former BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show host, has come out in agreement to doubt her decision to quit the program to spend more time with her family.
Zoe Ball has shared a hint of regret after quitting her £950,000 Radio 2 job last year in a bid to spend more time with her children.
Zoe, 54, announced the news to the audience that she would no longer be on the radio 2 Breakfast Show during the week starting December 20.
Her extended absence from the show over the summer following her mother’s passing early last year was the subject of the shock announcement at the time. Scott Mills and Gabby Roslin, two other radio hosts who later became Zoe’s permanent replacement, stepped in to help.
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After six years of early starts, Zoe admitted to wanting to spend more time with her children and family in a statement on air at the time. She did, however, confirm that after her exit, she would continue to work for Radio 2.
The much-loved radio host responded, “Ok, lovely bunch, I have some news. I’ve had fun for six years on the Breakfast Show, so I’ve decided it’s time to get up early and start a new chapter.
“You know I think the world of you all listeners, and it truly has been such a privilege to share the mornings with you, to go through life’s little ups and downs, we got through the lockdown together, didn’t we?”
We’ve had a lot of fun, the good times, the tough times, and a lot of laughter, she continued. And cats, I’m going to miss you. I’m going to miss my amazing, heartfelt Prod Squad.
“Already missing Mike, I’m going to miss Tina and Richie. They’ve all become like family to me, like you lot. But I won’t miss the 4am alarm call, if I’m completely honest. So my last Breakfast show will be with you on the 20th of December and then its high kicks all the way to Christmas, gang.”
However, Zoe has a question to ask: “What did I give up on for this job, almost one year after leaving her highly sought-after Radio 2 job?” in a sincere confession.
The radio personality has acknowledged that she has been questioned about leaving her Breakfast Show to pursue her 15-year-old daughter Nelly. The teenager is always out and about with her friends and is never at home.
After six years, Zoe sacrificed her £950,000 salary to “focus on family,” having son Woody, 24, and her ex-husband, Norman Cook. She is now considering her decision and admits to wondering whether it was worth it all.
The mother-of-two admitted to giving up work because she will take her GCSEs but she is never there when she appeared on Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe’s Parenting Hell podcast. She and her friends are out. I’m like, “I’ve given up my job for you.”
What did I give up on, I ask? Yes, I did because I had a rough time with Woody, but I was happy to have Nell back. “I don’t know,”
Zoe then went on to say that Nelly’s support during the most difficult teenage years was a part of the reason she left her job. For girls, 15 is booze and boys, she said on the podcast. It’s a nightmare. It is truly a mind-blowing experience.
“I’ve made sure I’m present at events like matches and shows.” I’ve only started doing the morning school run because I stopped watching the breakfast show, she continued.
She’s 15 and doesn’t really want to talk, she says. If anything, she doesn’t really want you to drive her to school.
Zoe, who took over from Chris Evans in 2018, was revealed to be the highest paid female at the BBC in 2024, earning between £950,000 and £954,999, while Radio 1 breakfast show host Greg James was paid between £415,000 and £419,999.
She was still someway behind Match of the Day host Gary Lineker, who raked in between £1,350,000 and £1,354,999 over the last 12 months.
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Source: Mirror
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