Zoe Ball has landed a major new job at BBC Radio 2's biggest rival, marking her return to daily broadcasting in another significant blow for the corporation.
The veteran broadcaster, 55, has signed for BBC Radio 2's biggest commercial rival, Greatest Hits Radio, where she will host the weekday afternoon show from September 7 in another high-profile coup for the station.
Ball takes over from Kate Thornton, joining former Radio 2 colleagues Ken Bruce and Simon Mayo in the schedule.
Greatest Hits Radio announced her arrival with a tongue-in-cheek Traitors-inspired trailer, captioned: “One more from the old place! Please welcome our newest recruit.”
In the clip, Ball enters the studio carrying a lantern before lowering her hood and telling Bruce and Mayo: “I couldn't let you two have all the fun, could I?”
She then makes a Traitors-style pledge to play only music from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s – and to keep Ken Bruce's popular PopMaster quiz on air every day.
The move marks Ball's first daily radio show since she stepped down from the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show in 2024 before later leaving her Saturday afternoon programme.
Announcing the news, she said: “I've missed it and this felt like the right time to begin a new chapter with Greatest Hits Radio.”
The new role marks Ball's return to daily broadcasting after she stepped down from BBC Radio 2's flagship Breakfast Show at the end of 2024, before leaving her Saturday afternoon programme the following year.
Her comeback comes just weeks after Ball revealed she had been left dealing with “grief and rejection” after missing out on the chance to host Strictly Come Dancing, which ultimately went to Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe.
Before leaving Radio 2, Ball had been one of the BBC's highest-paid presenters, earning £950,000 a year.
She returned to the Breakfast Show following an extended break after the death of her mother, Julia, from pancreatic cancer in April 2024, but announced her departure just months later.
The presenter has since spoken candidly about how grief, combined with perimenopause, left her battling panic attacks and “crippling anxiety” while on air.
Speaking on her Dig It podcast with Jo Whiley, Ball said: “I started to have panic attacks and I think it was from grief, because that's when it started for me.”
She added: “Then along came perimenopause as well and I started to have crippling anxiety to the point where I was struggling to work or get through a show.”
Ball later revealed she took a low dose of the antidepressant sertraline for two years to help manage her symptoms, telling fans she has since “come out of it” and encouraging others experiencing similar struggles to speak to their GP.
