ZOE Ball has found love again with a top TV production designer who she has already moved into her home.
The presenter, who is the bookies’ , is “head over heels” for Mat Weekes, who she has
Zoe Ball has been pictured with her new man for the first timeCredit: Click News and Media
Mat Weekes has already moved in with Zoe and they’re completely smittenCredit: Click News and Media
The Sun’s exclusive photographs show the loved-up couple walking arm-in-arm on Brighton seafront, near to the new home they are living in together.
Zoe, 55, beamed in an orange hat and a striped scarf as she took a stroll with the TV professional, who wore a mustard jacket and jeans.
A source close to the star said: “Zoe has had a turbulent couple of years and it’s been one of the hardest times of her life.
“But she still believes in love and Mat has been a real source of strength for her.
“He has become so important to her and they are completely in love. She feels very understood and safe with Mat and her friends love him.
“Despite the showbiz circles they work in, they live a quiet life together and that’s just how they like it.”
Mat, 49, is a Bafta-winning production designer who runs Bizibot Productions.
The company constructs sets for shows including I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here and Love Island.
He worked on the first three series of and last year’s hit spin-off Celebrity Traitors.
And he won a Bafta and was nominated for an Emmy for his work on .
Zoe linked arms with Mat on a walk in their hometown of BrightonCredit: Click News and Media
Zoe Ball and ex Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim) with their son Woody
Mat is a Bafta-winning producerCredit: Getty
He worked on Netflix’s Squid Game: The ChallengeCredit: Wattie Cheung
But he is believed to have met Zoe when he worked on the 2023 ITV1 series Mamma Mia! – I Have a Dream, on which she was the host.
At the time, she was recently single after her five-year romance with fashion model and carpenter Michael Reed ended.
However, she did not start dating Mat until some time later.
The couple were first seen together at Glastonbury festival last June, a week after mentioning “my fella” during a conversation on Radio 2.
She has also mentioned a partner on her Dig It podcast which she hosts with Jo Whiley, but has never identified him.
Instead, Zoe frequently refers to him as her “lodger” and on an episode in November, she teased: “The lodger has won loads of awards.”
On a recent podcast, she said she finds it “sexy” to sniff his armpits.
Zoe explained: “My favourite thing to often do is sometimes, especially if I’ve not seen my lover for a while, is when they’ve got their arms around you, I’m like sniffing in the armpits, and I get a right old look. I’m like, I like that smell. It’s a good smell.”
, whose real name is Norman Cook, in 1999.
They had a son, Woody, 25, and daughter Nelly, 16, before splitting up in 2016.
She then had a short relationship with cameraman and technician Billy Yates, who tragically died by suicide in 2017 following a lengthy battle with depression.
But Zoe’s new romance means she can turn over a new leaf after a difficult couple of years, which have seen her left devastated by the death of her mother, and quit two shows on Radio 2.
She announced in April 2024 that her mum Julia Peckham had passed away just 12 weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Then in November 2024, she abruptly announced she was quitting her £950k-a-year job to “focus on family.”
Last May, she rejoined the station with a two-hour, Saturday afternoon programme but lasted just seven months before quitting that in December.
However, Zoe is now the frontrunner to host Strictly Come Dancing following the departure last month of , 56, and , 54.
Zoe through the years
1970 – Born in Blackpool to children’s TV presenter Johnny Ball and his wife Julia
1990 – Becomes a runner for Saturday morning show Cool Cube
1993 – Lands first presenting job on Playdays
1996 – Shoots to stardom as a co-host on Live & Kicking with Jamie Theakston
1997 – Makes history as the first female host of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show
1999 – Marries Fatboy Slim at Babington House in Somerset
2000 – Leaves Radio 1 and becomes a mum to her first child, Woody
2005 – Finishes runner-up on third series of Strictly Come Dancing
2010 – Gives birth to daughter Nelly
2011 – Lands the job hosting Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two
2016 – Announces split from Fatboy Slim after 18 years of marriage
2017 – Left devastated as partner Billy Yates dies of suicide
2019 – Becomes first female host of Radio 2 Breakfast Show
2023 – Splits from boyfriend Michael Reed after five years
2024 – Quits Radio 2 Breakfast Show after mum Julia dies of pancreatic cancer
2025 – Returns to Radio 2 with new Saturday show – but leaves seven months later
She was a contestant on the third series of the BBC One show in 2005 and went on to front the BBC Two spin-off show It Takes Two from 2011 to 2021.
When asked about her name being in contention for the job, she told Sunday Times Style at the weekend: “It’s all anyone talks to me about.
“At the moment I am in mourning for Tess and Claud because I love those girls. I think everyone’s name is being thrown into the mix.
“I love that show. I loved performing on it with Ian Waite, who is one of my best buddies.
“It’s so joyful and it’s live telly, which is another thing that people don’t give the girls enough credit for. That show is a beast. Whoever gets to do it has a tough act to follow.
“Obviously there’s part of me that would love to do it. But I will still be watching, whoever hosts it.”
Zoe’s boyfriend Billy Yates tragically died by suicideCredit: Instagram/Zoetheball
Zoe and ex Michael Reed pictured watching Dame Vera Lynn’s funeral cortege in 2020Credit: Getty
Speaking about who could land the job, she continued: “There are so many people who would be brilliant on it. Alan [Carr] and Amanda [Holden] have ruled themselves out, but you don’t know.
“Rylan would kill it. No one’s mentioned Vern[on Kay]!” She runs through another eight names.”There’s a great variety.”
After being told it was clear that she had “given this some thought,” she added: “Oh, who knows. I’ve learnt that if things are going to come to you, they come to you.
“If going on the show with Ian, and ten years presenting It Takes Two, if that’s my time on [Strictly], that’s all right ? I’ve had a really great adventure.”
Zoe is a Radio 2 favourite and in the running to be the new Strictly hostCredit: PA
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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