Zoe Ball has shared insight into her ‘tricky’ journey to sobriety, nearly a decade after quitting booze for good.
The Radio 2 star, 55, has openly shared her struggles with alcohol, and even revealed in 2020 that she had a stint in rehab to deal with her problem drinking.
Reflecting on her own sobriety journey, Zoe shared that one of the biggest challenges was managing the ‘reaction’ from some of her friends and loved ones to her decision to go sober, admitting some would still urge to her have ‘just one.’
The discussion come during the latest episode of her Dig It podcast, where she and pal Jo Whiley were discussing a listener’s question about doing Dry January.
Zoe said: ‘It is quite tricky because you sort of have to change your socialising habits a little bit. I think more and more people don’t drink these days, so you have lots of options for drinks around you.
‘I know there’s quite a lot of people who drink beer, zero alcohol beer, zero alcohol wine, you can get no-secco.
Zoe Ball has shared insight into her ‘tricky’ journey to sobriety, nearly a decade after quitting booze for good
The Radio 2 star has openly shared her struggles with alcohol, and even srevealed in 2020 she had a stint in rehab to deal with her problem drinking (pictured in 1997)
‘I found for me, just not drinking full-stop was better for me than having anything with no alcohol. I just found it easier.
‘Often the people’s reaction around you, I found even in my own family would be like ”oh go on just have one, go one, just have one, just have one” and they were the days where you used to have to tell people you were on antibiotics or something.’
Zoe then went on to note: ‘I had certain friends me who really were supportive about me not drinking.’
Reflecting on the previous New Year, she said: ‘I woke up on New Year’s Day, it’s like ”god I love this feeling of waking up, not shameful.”
Zoe has previously been candid about her struggles with alcohol and in 2014 admitted she broke her sobriety after six years of abstinence, which she first began in 2009 on the morning of New Year’s Day following a party of ‘total carnage’.Â
The mother-of-two said it took her several attempts to tackle her alcohol problem that accompanied her career from children’s television presenter to the first female host of Radio 1’s Breakfast Show, before quitting booze for good in 2016.
‘You’ll find that you’ll deal with it a little bit but then you slip back into old ways,’ she said. ‘It took me a couple of attempts to sort that out.’
Explaining how she finally dealt with her problem drinking, Zoe told Desert Island Discs: ‘I was lucky enough to go to rehab actually and through meeting other people who had addictions as well.’
Reflecting on her own sobriety journey, Zoe shared that one of the biggest challenges was managing the ‘reaction’ from some of her friends and loved ones
Her reputation as a party girl increased after her 1999 marriage to superstar DJ Fatboy Slim, when she often found herself among other female stars known for their booze-fuelled antics.
‘It’s weird, because you do this job and you are talking and are gregarious and all these things but I am actually quite shy. But you could walk into the room if you’d had a drink.’
In December, Zoe announced she was quitting her BBC Radio 2 show after just seven months, with Emma Willis taking over her slot.
Announcing her exit she said:Â ‘I have loved being betwixt my dear friends [and fellow presenters] Romesh [Ranganathan] and Rylan, and you know, I love you all to bits, but I’m not disappearing completely’.
‘Obviously, it’ll be Christmas Crooners and I’m doing an Eras show in the New Year, more on that later. I am thrilled to tell you that you will be in the safest of hands, because there is a super woman who is no stranger to you all, but this does mean that she will officially become a member of the Radio 2 family.’
In an official statement Zoe said: ‘Spending Saturday lunchtimes with the Radio 2 gang has been an absolute hoot, the listeners, the stories, and of course my weekly giggles with Romesh and Rylan’.
Zoe also recently opened up on going through a ‘tough year’ after the tragic death of her mother in April 2024.
Julia Peckham died after a battle with pancreatic cancer, with Zoe stepping down down as host of her BBC Radio 2 show afterwards, to ‘focus on family’
The star, who was once one of the corporation’s most-paid stars, signed off from her Saturday afternoon show last week.
Reflecting on the last 12 months to The Mirror last week, she said: ‘As you get older, do you become a bit more, f*** it, do you stop worrying about things?
‘I’ve been thinking about it. I don’t know if that’s true, because you might care less about some of the daft stuff that you used to worry about. But, actually, there’s loads of other stuff to worry about.’Â
She added: ‘Life is a bit like Indiana Jones sometimes, isn’t it? Like when the massive ball is running down the hill, you’re like, ‘for f***’s sake’ just trying to deal with this.’Â
In December, Zoe announced she was quitting her BBC Radio 2 show after just seven months, with Emma Willis taking over her slot (pictured in 2024)
Zoe previously fought back tears as she revealed she had an emotional breakdown following her mother’s death and the sheer impact it had on her, revealing she was forced to take time off work following a breakdown.
Speaking on her Dig It podcast, she recalled: ‘I couldn’t work. I was on the floor in the kitchen. I couldn’t, I couldn’t move.
‘I had a proper emotional breakdown, you know, I haven’t really talked about it actually. But it was, yeah, it was brutal.
‘I had an amazing doctor who turned up at my door with coffee and bagels and said, “so, we need to get you some help”, and he was wonderful.’
