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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Tina Campbell

Zoe Ball 'spending more time than ever' with ex Fatboy Slim amid family focus

Zoe Ball and ex-husband Norman Cook have reportedly been spending more time together “than ever” following their split almost a decade ago.

BBC Radio 2 presenter Ball, 53, sparked concern after recently taking unexplained long leave from her breakfast show slot. During that time, she was pictured out and about with DJ Cook, 61, who is professionally known as Fatboy Slim.

She previously took time out earlier this year due to needing emergency dental care and the death of her mother Julia from cancer, for which she again turned to Cook.

In recent months Ball also made the move from her £2million country home to a townhouse in Brighton, where Cook also lives.

It has further been claimed that the former couple come together for family occasions as well as Sunday lunches with their children Woody, 23, and daughter Nelly, 14.

Zoe Ball recently sparked concern after taking a long unexplained absence from her BBC Radio 2 show (BBC)

One insider told the Daily Mail: "They always seem to be together." While another dished to the publication that the exes have been attending their son Woody's DJ gigs together.

They first met in 1998 when Ball flew out to Ibiza to work with Cook on a show for BBC Radio 1.

Sparks flew and two years later in August 1999, they got married at Babington House in Somerset and welcomed son Woody the following year.

Their union wasn’t without its issues however and in 2003, they briefly separated after cook discovered Ball had cheated on him with his friend DJ Dan Peppe.

They reconciled just three months later and, in 2010, welcomed a second child, Nelly.

In recent months Zoe Ball has moved closer to where ex Norman Cook (pictured) lives (Dave Benett)

Their happiness was not to last and in 2016 they announced that they had “come to the end of our rainbow” and were separating.

Ball found love again with cameraman Billy Yates in 2017, but the romance came to a tragic end when he was found dead in his London flat in May that year after taking his own life.

Later that year in December, Ball began dating Michael Reed, but by May 2023 the pair had "drifted apart".

Meanwhile, a lot less is known about Cook’s love life.

In 2018, The Sun reported that he had grown close to Ball’s friend Nicola Lokko, which left her feeling “freaked out”.

A source told the publication: "Norman deserves to be happy, but his choice of partner has upset the apple cart."

The Standard has contacted representatives for Zoe Ball and Norman Cook for comment.

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