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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Lisa McLoughlin

Zoe Ball relying on 'green noise' to sleep as she returns to Radio 2 after six-week absence

Zoe Ball has revealed she has been using “green noise” to help her sleep since returning to her BBC Radio 2 show after a six-week break.

The 53-year-old presenter made her comeback on Monday, cheerfully asking listeners: “What have I missed?”

On Tuesday’s show, while chatting with co-hosts Richie Anderson and Tina Daheley about the rainy weather, Ball shared her sleep routine: “I fall asleep listening to green noise.

“I used to listen to brown noise, you know white noise! Supposedly you can listen to them wherever you get your music from, green music is water-based I think!

“Rivers, brooks and sometimes the rain, although I do worry it makes me need the loo more often!”

Green noise, known for amplifying mid-range frequencies, typically mimics soothing natural sounds like oceans or streams.

Ball pictured with her Radio 2 colleagues on Monday (Instagram/Zoe Ball)

The broadcaster also expressed her gratitude for being back on air, saying she was “super grateful to be here” as she embraced positivity after her time away.

On Monday, Ball returned to her BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show after an unscheduled six-week absence, paying tribute to Jamie Theakston and Lauren Laverne amid their cancer battles.

The 53-year-old presenter passed on the support she has received to the pair, wishing them well during their treatments.

She told listeners: “I must say, while we’re sending some love, our breakfast friend Lauren Laverne, our mate at 6 Music, is currently going through some cancer treatment.

“She is doing okay but just wanted to send my love out to her.”

The broadcaster also paid tribute to her old colleague, Jamie Theakston, who went public with his diagnosis last week, as she added: “And my dear Live and Kicking, Priory mate, Jamie Theakston who is also having some treatment for cancer at the moment.

“He is going to be okay and he is doing well. Sending so much love to them. So a lot of the love I got to me I am sending back to them.”

The broadcaster, who is the BBC's highest-paid female presenter on a £950,000 annual salary, had been away from The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show since August 8.

Returning on Monday morning, she dubbed herself the "happy wanderer" saying: "I have wandered back. How was your Brat summer? Was it marvellous? Have you been enjoying summer?

"We did that back in the 90s, it was called something different then... bringing back memories."

There has been no official reason given as to why Ball had been absent for more than six weeks.

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