Zoe Ball broke down in tears on her final ever BBC Radio 2 show this morning after her colleages all shared recorded messages with their well wishes.
Scott Mills – who will be the 54-year-old’s replacement – called Zoe ‘the best of the best’ while she was also described as ‘one of the kindest people in the BBC’, as they thanked Zoe for being ‘you’.
After the recorded messages two hours into her last breakfast show, Zoe was audiably emotional and said: ‘Right, I’ve gone.’
Going live at 6am Zoe revealed she’d already cried multiple times this morning and can ‘barely remember [her] name’ as she takes to the air for her BBC Radio 2 breakfast show for the last time.
‘I can barely remember my own name this morning,’ the British DJ, 54, shared after opening her last show with One More Time by Daft Punk.
Quoting adapted lines from Les Miserables’ One Day More, she told listeners: ‘Another day, another destiny, one final show from me, ZB… only joking I’m not going to sing, let’s have some Daft Punk.’
‘We’ve had some tears already,’ Zoe told listeners tuning in for her big farewell to the show after six years, adding: ‘I’ve already had a little cry.’
Zoe seemed overwhelmed as she said, ‘We don’t know quite what to do this morning,’ while talking about her departure, which was announced in November.
Upon announcing her decision to leave her early morning weekday slot, Zoe cited her loved ones as the reason.
This weekend, she said she’s flying to see her son Woody, 24, with her daughter Nelly, 14 – who she shares with ex husband DJ Fatboy Slim – while asking listeners for their pre-Christmas plans.
The broadcaster – who became the first woman ever to present the show in 2019 – also shared that she would be having ‘a good old blub’ too.
One listener Beth called into the show having got into contact with Zoe when she started the presenting gig in 2019.
Beth welcomed a baby girl on the day it was announced Zoe would become the first female presenter on the breakfast show in 2019, and the new mum decided to name her baby after the presenter. Zoe then talked to little six-year-old Zoe over the phone in a sweet moment.
Zoe also got a recorded message from the one and only Kylie, who said: ‘Thank you for an incredible six years, the nation loves you and I love you. Every time I’ve been in to see you it’s been so much fun.’
The Spinnin Around hitmaker reminisced how Zoe has been there through some of her biggest moments, like when they chatted before she performed the Glastonbury legend slot in 2019.
The Aussie star also recalled how Zoe was the first person ‘anywhere in the world’ to play her pop megahit Padam Padam.
‘You’re the best. We’re all going to miss you. But goodbye morning alarm. We wish you all the joy and success,’ Kylie added.
Zoe also thanked Oti Mabuse for her ‘gorgeous message’ this morning, that ‘made [her] cry too’.
David Tennant also recorded a message that was played on Zoe’s show this morning, reflecting on the time she made him do a dramatic reading of Shania Twain’s Man, I Feel Like A Woman on air, as the Doctor Who actor added: ‘You’ve been so amazing. My god the country is going to miss you.’
Playing Elbow’s live Radio 2 cover of Wichita Lineman, Zoe refected how this song will ‘always remind [her] of Wrighty’ – referring to the Radio 2 legend Steve Wright who died earlier this year.
Sending love to his family this Christmas, Zoe said: ‘We miss you darling man but your magic is with us always.’
Scott Mills will take Zoe’s place, having already filled in for the mum-of-two during her unexplained absence earlier this year.
Announcing her departure, Zoe described her stint there as ‘incredible’, despite the ‘very early mornings’.
Telling her listeners about her decision to bow out, she said: ‘I’ve decided it’s time to step away from the early alarm call and start a new chapter.
‘We’ve shared a hell of a lot: the good times, the tough times; there’s been a lot of laughter. And I am going to miss you cats.’
She added she would also miss her colleagues, saying they were ‘like family to [her]’.
The early morning presenter added that the one thing she definitely will not miss is the sound of her alarm going off at 4am.
‘You know I love you all to bits,’ she sweetly told her audience.
In recent months, Zoe has revealed her long-term battles with the chronic health condition, temporomandibular joint disorder, otherwise known as TMJ which causes pain and tenderness in jaw joints.
She’s had a tough year, having lost her mum Julia in April. Zoe described how she was ‘bereft’ but said her mum’s smile and grace would ‘light the stars to guide us’.
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