Main content

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 Â鶹Éç 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 Â鶹Éç 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

Available now

38 minutes

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 11:15
  • Fri 14 Feb 2020 09:00

The Desert Island Discs podcast

The Desert Island Discs podcast

Subscribe or download individual episodes.

Listen to over 2,000 programmes

Click above to browse castaways, from 1942 to today.

Articles

Read the surprising things we've learned about some stand-out castaways.

Podcast