Zoe Ball sends ‘so much love’ to Laverne and Theakston on her BBC Radio 2 return
The 53-year-old has been absent on-air since August 8.
BBC Radio 2 presenter Zoe Ball returned to hosting her breakfast show, and paid tribute to Lauren Laverne and Jamie Theakston after the pair revealed their cancer diagnoses.
The 53-year-old has been absent from the airwaves on The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show since she briefly returned on August 8, following a summer break.
Ball told listeners that their messages of support to her “meant the world”.
She added: “I must say, while we are sending some love, our breakfast friends Lauren Laverne, our mate at 6 Music is currently going through some cancer treatment.
“She’s doing OK but I just want to send my love out to her.”
She also said that Heart Breakfast’s Theakston, who was on BBC children’s TV show Live & Kicking with her and announced he was going through stage one laryngeal cancer earlier this month, was “going to be OK and he’s doing well”.
“Sending so much love to them,” Ball added.
Earlier, as she returned on Monday morning, she dubbed herself the “happy wanderer”, saying: “I have wandered back. How was your Brat summer? Was it marvellous? Have you been enjoying summer?
“We did that back in the ’90s, it was called something different then … bringing back memories.”
She added: “I hope you’ve been enjoying some of the gorgeous sunsets over the last couple of weeks. It’s a tad soggy our end this morning. Take it easy out on the roads … ”
Ball, who is the BBC’s highest-paid on-air female star, thanked her colleague and fellow radio presenter Scott Mills for “looking after you for the last few weeks”, and added: “I love you, Scott.”
Mills was recently announced as the winner of the BBC’s Celebrity Race Across The World alongside his husband Sam Vaughan.
After playing Earth, Wind & Fire’s September, she read out a message from a listener and responded, saying: “No, I didn’t go to Turkey for new face and teeth.”
In an Instagram post, Ball said it was “grand to be back today with this cracking crew”, while sharing a picture of her in the studio with the Radio 2 team.
She also wrote: “Big thanks to our awesome listeners for the lovely kind messages.”
Ball also said she would be back on Tuesday, with TV presenter and former MP Gyles Brandreth joining her as a guest.
She confirmed her return to work in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday, writing: “Back on breakfast @bbcradio2 tomorrow morning at 06.30.”
In April, Ball announced the death of her mother, Julia Peckham, writing in an Instagram post: “We are bereft without you but will hold so tight to each other.”
Ball took over the Radio 2 morning programme in 2019 from Chris Evans.
She was the first female host of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show in 1998, a post she held until 2000.
