Zoe Ball, broadcaster
Zoe Ball, broadcaster and Radio 2 breakfast show host, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury she would want to take with her if cast away to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne
Zoe Ball is a radio and television presenter. She became the first woman to present the 91Èȱ¬ Radio 1 Breakfast Show in 1997, and then the first woman to present the Radio 2 Breakfast Show in 2019.
Zoe grew up in Buckinghamshire with her father – TV presenter Johnny Ball – and her stepmother. After working behind the scenes in TV as a runner and researcher, she first moved into the spotlight hosting children's programmes, including the very successful 91Èȱ¬ Saturday morning show Live & Kicking, with Jamie Theakston. In the late 1990s, coinciding with her move to the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, she found herself described in the press as a 'ladette', enjoying the partying culture of the time. Further headlines followed her marriage to superstar DJ Norman Cook - Fatboy Slim - in 1999. She decided to leave Radio 1 in 2000, and her first child, Woody, was born later that year. She and Norman announced their separation in 2016.
Zoe was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, and has presented Strictly: It Takes Two since 2011. In 2018, she cycled 350 miles from Blackpool to Brighton as part of Sport Relief, and to raise awareness of mental health, after her partner Billy Yates took his own life. She began presenting the Radio 2 Breakfast Show just over a year ago.
She lives in Sussex with her two children, Woody and Nelly.
DISC ONE: Where Am I Going? by Barbra Streisand
DISC TWO: Georgy Porgy (Disco Version) by Toto feat. Cheryl Lynn
DISC THREE: Righteous by Ocean Wisdom feat. Rodney P & Roots Manuva
DISC FOUR: Shoot You Down by The Stone Roses
DISC FIVE: Love Having You Around by First Choice
DISC SIX: Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) by Frank Wilson
DISC SEVEN: Truth by Kamasi Washington
DISC EIGHT: You Can't Always Get What You Want by The Rolling Stones
BOOK CHOICE: A dictionary
LUXURY ITEM: A potting shed, gardening tools and seeds
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Truth by Kamasi Washington
Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah Taylor
Last on
12 things we learned from Zoe Ball's Desert Island Discs
Radio 2's Breakfast Show host spoke to Lauren Laverne.
Music Played
-
Barbra Streisand
Where Am I Going?
- Color Me Barbra.
- Sony Music.
- 22.
-
Toto
Georgy Porgy (Disco Version) (feat. Cheryl Lynn)
- The Best Of Cheryl Lynn : Got To Be Real.
- Columbia/Legacy.
- 15.
-
Ocean Wisdom
Righteous (feat. Roots Manuva & Rodney P)
- Wizville.
- High Focus Records.
- 7.
-
The Stone Roses
Shoot You Down
- The Stone Roses.
- Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd.
- 10.
-
First Choice
Love Having You Around
- Delusions.
- Salsoul Records.
- 11.
-
Frank Wilson
Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)
- Motown 50.
- Universal-Island Records Limited.
- 18.
-
Kamasi Washington
Truth
- Harmony of Difference.
- Young Turks.
- 6.
-
The Rolling Stones
You Can't Always Get What You Want
- Let It Bleed.
- Decca Music Group Limited.
- 9.
Broadcasts
- Sun 9 Feb 2020 11:1591Èȱ¬ Radio 4
- Fri 14 Feb 2020 09:0091Èȱ¬ Radio 4
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Desert Island Discs
Castaway guests share the soundtrack of their lives.