Zoe Ball has thanked listeners for their support on her return to the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show.
The broadcaster returned on Monday (September 23) after a long absence, where she also thanked colleagues Scott Mills and DJ Spoony and had messages for two dear friends.
"I just wanna say huge, mega thanks to my friend, the newly-crowned champion of Race Across the World, Scott Mills. Didn't he and Sam do well, I know! I didn't dream in a million years that they would win that," Zoe said in a link shortly after the 8am news.
"You can see why that marriage works so brilliantly, can't you, that relationship. What a series! Scott was so brilliant. I just want to say thank you to him for looking after the show."
She also thanked Spoony for covering Scott Mills' regular show, adding: "Spoony was supposed to go on holiday! He was DJ-ing around the world. He had to change all his plans, he's been an absolute sweetheart.
"Thank you boys, for looking after everybody, and everyone here for being so supportive. And lots of you sent so many messages, listeners, they meant the world. So thank you to you gorgeous ones."
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Zoe also took a moment to send well-wishes to friends and fellow broadcasters Lauren Laverne and Jamie Theakston – both of whom have announced cancer diagnoses in recent weeks.
"I must say, actually, while we're mentioning sending some love, our breakfast friends, Lauren Laverne, our mate over 6Music, currently going through some cancer treatment. She's doing okay, but I just wanted to send my whole heart out to her," she told listeners.
"And my dear Live and Kicking and The Priory mate, Jamie Theakston, who's also having some treatment for cancer at the moment and he's gonna be okay and he's doing well.
"I'm sending them both lots and lots of love out there. So a lot of the love I got to me, I send back to them."
Zoe, who hadn't been on air since August 8, had previously announced her return to the Radio 2 breakfast show on social media, writing on Sunday: "Back on breakfast @bbcradio2 tomorrow morning at 6:30."
She also thanked Scott Mills and DC Spoony for "putting in the mega shifts" while she was away.
Radio 2 also confirmed recently that she would be returning later in September.
While filling in for Zoe, Scott Mills joked that fans shouldn't be worried they'd slept in when they heard him presenting in her usual morning slot.
"If you set your alarm every morning to go off at 6.30 and normally Zoe comes on, please do not freak out. You have not overslept," he said in August.
"I'm here doing the Breakfast Show. Do not panic. It's early."
He also voiced his support for Zoe, saying: "I'm sending you all my love Zo, as are the team."
The Celebrity Gogglebox star revealed in March that her mother Julia Peckham had been diagnosed with cancer, and that she would be taking some time off from her radio show. She then announced that Julia had died in April.
In August, she posted a tribute to her mother on Instagram on what would have been her birthday.
"Your beautiful beaming smile shining down on our hearts always but boy, losing you is harder than I could ever have imagined," she said. "Holding on so tight, letting the tears come & wishing on the stars."
The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show airs between 6.30am and 9.30am on BBC Radio 2 every weekday.
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Christine Maguire is an experienced freelance editor and journalist who has worked for Business Plus, Lonely Planet, RT Digital, Digital Spy and other organisations.
She has a degree in journalism and visual media from Griffith College Dublin and a postgraduate diploma in digital marketing from the National College of Ireland, along with various editing qualifications from Publishing Ireland and The UK Publishing Training Centre.
Christine specialises in breaking news and reporting on technology, travel, politics and internet culture.
Kate (they/she) is a freelance writer, editor, digital editorial trainer and data technician who first joined Digital Spy as an overnight freelance sub-editor in January 2011, after studying a postgraduate diploma in journalism at Salford University while working part-time as a social researcher.
In July 2013, Kate joined the DS staff team as chief sub-editor and following six years as the site's managing editor, their role expanded to incorporate Hearst UK's entertainment portfolio (including Digital Spy and its sibling titles Best and Inside Soap) between late 2024 and early 2026.
Kate has worked as a writer and editor since 2006, with bylines syndicated across the Hearst network and at organisations including Metro. They started their career as a TV production runner for the BBC and contributed to various music websites, blogs and zines while based in Manchester.
During her time at DS, Kate has previously been a freelance sub-editor and chief sub-editor.
Kate's team at Digital Spy were proudly nominated in the Best Subbing/Production Team category at the BSME Talent Awards 2022. Over the years, she has contributed to coverage of many, many Prime Days and Black Friday/Cyber Monday, and was part of the team that launched the DS weekly TV newsletter in November 2019 – followed by the Top of the Shops e-commerce newsletter in May 2024.
Kate's screen passions include Taskmaster (their biggest career regret remains turning down the opportunity to visit the house), nature documentaries, and live sport (up there with the greatest of all soap operas although if asked to choose, it's Corrie… every time).
Her highlights while working at DS have included interviewing Stevie Nicks on the red carpet for her documentary In Your Dreams, sitting at a press roundtable with Formula 1 commentary icon Murray Walker, watching a life-sized LEGO car being driven around Silverstone, writing an album-by-album retrospective of Lady Gaga's genre-defying career for Living Legends, and raising awareness of receiving and understanding a late-in-life ADHD diagnosis through the lens of Bianca and Freddie's EastEnders storyline.
Upon remembering to log off the internet, Kate enjoys live theatre, dance and comedy, appreciating nature, baking (badly), tending a recently-rented allotment (equally badly) and pampering one very spoiled rescue cat named Jolene.
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