Zoe Ball: New Partners Must Respect Ex Relationships

has spoken about the challenges of introducing new partners to her family, as she continues to enjoy her romance with a 'sexy' new boyfriend.

The Daily Mail revealed in January how Zoe, 55, has been dating BAFTA-winning production designer Mathieu Weekes, 49, for over a year - seven years after splittng from her ex husband Norman Cook.

Zoe still has a close friendship with Norman, AKA Fatboy Slim, and the two co-parent their children Woody, 25, and Nelly, 16.

In a recent episode of her Dig It podcast, Zoe admitted to her co-host Jo Whiley that she's made mistakes in past relationships and introduced boyfriends to her children too quickly. 

Responding to a listener's dilemma about moving on after the breakdown of a marriage, Jo threw the question to Zoe who laughed as she admitted she had been through the issue of introducing new partners 'quite a few times. "Another one!" as my kids would say. I'm just kidding.' 

'Introducing new partners, it's a tricky one. You just have to go with the feeling of it. I think it's okay to have a bit of a private life that isn't part of the kids' life for a little bit,' Zoe advised. 

'In the past I've rushed that by welcoming someone in and being like "here's my kids. Here's my life. This is me." And it's all a bit much. It's all a bit much for me. It's all a bit much for the kids.'

'Hopefully at some point there is someone where you think actually this person's pretty cool and they're pretty laid-back and they're not going to come in and demand to be part of your kids' lives.'

She added: 'I think the right person will respect your relationship with your kids, will respect the relationship you have with your ex. I'd be wary of anyone who wants this to happen too soon for you.' 

'You might meet a few people and they might initially seem to be fabulous. You may then get to know that they're complicated because it's really hard to get to our stage of life without baggage.  And initially you might meet someone and think, "Oh, wow. This person's too good to be true." Sometimes they are.' 

Before Mathieu Zoe's last public relationship was with former construction worker Michael Reed.

The pair were together for five years before their split in 2023, as sources told The Sun the relationship began to break down after Michael became 'a bit demanding'.

Before Michael, she began dating cameraman and technician Billy Yates, who tragically died by suicide in May 2017 after a long battle with depression. 

Zoe, who was married to Norman for 17 years, also offered advice to the listener who had admitted she felt guilty about leaving her unhappy marriage.

The star empathised, saying 'it is so hard to leave a relationship when you know it's the right thing to do.'

'You feel awful for the person you've left. You feel terrible for breaking up a family. You feel guilty for your kids. It is a lot. And it does take such bravery.'

'But when you're out and the dust starts to settle, you realise that was exactly what you needed to do. Hopefully your kids as they get older, you can talk to them a little bit more about why that happened.'

'Sometimes you might not want to talk to them about that. They might not want to hear it. I think sometimes it takes for them to be adults themselves and be in relationships to realise how difficult it is.' 

Norman and Zoe began their romance in 1997 after they met in Ibiza and they married two years later at Babington House in Somerset.

They split briefly in 2003 when it emerged she had an affair with a close friend of her husband's DJ Dan Peppe.

Following the revelation Norman said he still loved Zoe and would take her back, as long as she promised never to see Peppe again. The did reconcile but in September 2016 they announced their separation.

In January the Daily Mail revealed that Zoe's new boyfriend Mathieu is an award-winning production designer who has worked on hit shows including , , for which he won a 2021 , Love Island and : The Challenge.

It was whilst designing the set for 2023 talent show Mamma Mia! – I Have a Dream that Mathieu met Zoe, who presented the series filmed in . Zoe's last public relationship with construction worker Michael Reed ended in 2023. 

The couple were first seen together at last June, a week after she first referred to 'my fella' while on Radio 2.