Michael Ball Reflects on Heartfelt Goodbye to Mother

Michael Ball fought back tears as he opened up on the 'beautiful and perfect' goodbye he said to his mum before she passed away aged 91 last year. 

The singer and broadcaster, 63, announced his mother Ruth Parry Ball's passing by sharing an old picture of her back to his social media following in August 2025. 

Michael revealed as he took to This Morning today (May 22) that Ruth had passed away after a short battle with illness in hospital - and made the decision to take end of life care instead of prolonging her battle.

He admitted that he was able to say the 'perfect' goodbye to his parent, revealing they 'laughed and cried' together until she passed away. 

Michael told hosts and : 'It was the most beautiful, if one can plan a death, you know. 

'She was taken ill on the Saturday, I went to the hospital and for five days, she had one very serious episode - it was a heart episode - and they said, "if we have to intervene again, it's going to be really horrible". 

'She said, "No, I'd like end of life care now, please" - utterly determined, fully compos mentis, and funny as hell and we cried a lot, we talked, I was holding her hand as she went. 

'You just think, it was beautiful and it was perfect, and it made me realise, I mourned more watching her than after, it wasn't a tragedy, it's deeply sad.

'The year before, on her birthday, she was 90 and I said, "What do you want to for your birthday, mum?", thinking lunch at the Ritz or something, and she said, "No, I want to go on the fastest zip wire in North Wales and I want a tattoo on my arm". 

'She did it, she got a Welsh dragon on her arm, a whole dragon, and then we got onto the fastest zip wire - it was a perfect ending, it was perfect' 

Back in August, Michael confirmed his mum Ruth had passed away with a heartfelt snap of the pair, writing to his followers: 'Ruth Parry Ball 1934-2025.'

Michael's fans flooded him with supportive comments as they offered their condolences on Ruth's passing under the emotional post. 

One wrote: 'Sorry for your loss, Michael. She must have been massively proud of you,' as another chimed in: 'Michael I’m sorry for your loss. My condolences.'

A third replied: 'I am so sorry to hear this news and so sorry for your loss. My deepest condolences to you and all the family. My thoughts and prayers are with you.'

While a fourth commented on his announcement: 'Michael, so sorry to hear about your mum and my sincere condolences. Praying for God's divine comfort, strength and inner healing for you and the entire family.'

Michael has previously revealed he was extremely close to his mother and would regularly update his fans on how Ruth was, and even took her zip lining last year for her 90th birthday celebrations.

Sharing a snap of Ruth geared up for the activity, Ball told fans: 'We celebrated my dear mum’s 90th birthday this past weekend with a trip to Wales with the whole family.

'What did we get up to, I hear you ask - well we took a 90 year old on the fastest zipline in the world of course! Mx.'

Last year, Michael was announced as the new permanent host of Steve Wright's Love Songs following the veteran DJ's sudden death.

The 63-year-old had previously presented  on Sunday from 11am-1pm and took over Steve's slot, with the show being renamed Love Songs With Michael Ball.

Elsewhere earlier this year, Michael hit out at actor 's careless comment that 'no-one cares' about ballet and opera.

Timothée, 30, sparked backlash after making the controversial remarks during an hour-long Variety/CNN Town Hall with his Interstellar 'father'  on February 24.

Speaking about his hopes cinemas are able to survive, he said: 'I don't want to be working in ballet or opera. Things where it's like, "Hey, keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore".'

Attempting to backtrack slightly, the Oscar contender added: 'All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there... I just lost 14 cents in viewership. Damn, I just took shots for no reason.'

Timothée's comments have not been well received well across the industry and Michael, 63, who is renowned for his versatile baritone voice in musical theatre, is the latest star to weigh in on the controversial remark. 

Speaking to Gaby Roslin on her Magic Radio show, Michael said: 'The human race have been dancing and singing since we could walk, since we came out of the primordial swamp, it ain't going anywhere. 

'Dancers go out and leave their hearts and quite a bit of blood on the dancefloor because they love it and the audience absolutely are entranced, and for someone to diss that.

'And the training and dedication for opera is extraordinary, the musicality, the skill. And it wouldn't be going if people didn't enjoy it and didn't want to see it and get something from it.'

After the clip from Michael's interview was shared on Instagram, fans wrote: 'Well said' and 'preach it'.  

Michael made his West End debut In 1985, where he was cast as Marius Pontmercy in the original production of Les Misérables. 

He has twice won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. 

This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX.