Zoe Ball has opened up about her mystery boyfriend and what she finds “really sexy” about him.
The Radio 2 star - who has two children with her ex-husband Norman Cook - recently revealed she is dating someone she calls “The Lodger”.
The 55-year-old divulged that her partner is living with her at her home, which is thought to be in Brighton and Hove.
Ball discussed the things she enjoys about her companion while chatting to Jo Whiley on their Dig It podcast.
“I've often had this thing, when I've been sort of dating someone, I love smelling their armpits,” the presenter admitted.
“I know it sounds weird, but if you love someone, you've got to love all their smells, not necessarily their bathroom smells. I draw a line at that. But there's something about armpit smells that I think are really sexy.”
She continued: “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.
“Do you remember doing that thing when you were dating someone, you were young, borrowing their clothes?
“I know my kids borrow their partner's clothes to keep them because they smell of them, which is really lovely.
“I have a thing that if my partner goes away, I don't like to wash the bed until they get back. A, because I'm worried they might not come back, and B, I love the smell. I love the smell of them on the pillows.”
Ball went on: “I really love that. I remember also being a teenager and spraying Kuros or whatever it was, Paco Rabanne. I love the smells. That is always a sign.
“If you go off someone, you know you've gone off them if they suddenly, the smells you used to love about them starts to smell a bit funky. You're like, nah, it's gone.
“It's gone because you got to love all their smells.”
Several weeks earlier, Ball revealed her mystery man has moved in with her.
“He's still here at the moment. He's still lodging,” she told Whiley.
She did not reveal the lodger’s name, although she did dish that he has more awards than her.
“The lodger has won loads of awards…. I need to up my [game],” she admitted.
It is not known who her partner is, although she was spotted holding hands with a mystery man at Glastonbury in June.
Ball shares two children with her ex Cook aka DJ Fatboy Slim - son Woody, 24, and daughter Nelly, 14.
They married in 1999 after meeting in Ibiza two years earlier.
Despite separating in 2016 and finalising their divorce in 2020, they have maintained a friendly co-parenting relationship.
The broadcaster is believed to have sold her £2 million country home in Sussex to move closer to Cook in Brighton and Hove, where they both reportedly work at his beach cafe.
In past interviews, Cook has credited Ball with helping keep him grounded during the peak of his music career.
“She knew the fame game, and we would check each other,” he told the Changes podcast. “If I wasn’t respectful, she’d pull me up. We were both good at keeping each other’s feet on the ground.”
Since the end of her marriage, Ball has experienced both heartbreak and new beginnings.
She dated cameraman Billy Yates, who tragically died by suicide in 2017.
She later had a long-term relationship with former construction worker Michael Reed, which reportedly ended in 2023.
