The television presenter Zoë Ball has spoken of devastation at the death of her partner, Billy Yates, who was found at his home in south London on Thursday.
Yates, who was 40, was a cameraman on the BBC programme Antiques Roadshow and had also worked on ITV’s The Xtra Factor.
“Zoë is devastated and requests that during this difficult time the media respect her privacy as well as the privacy of her friends and family,” her spokesman told the Press Association.
Ball posted a tribute on her Instagram page earlier on Friday:
A BBC spokesperson confirmed that Kate Thornton will be stepping in to present Ball’s weekly BBC Radio 2 programme on Saturday afternoon.
Ball, 46, was reported to have been in a relationship with Yates for several months. She announced her separation from her husband of 18 years, the DJ Norman Cook, in September last year.
The Metropolitan police said on Friday: “Police were called at 6.40pm on Thursday 4 May to a residential address in Putney, south London, following reports of a man found deceased. Officers and the London ambulance service attended. A man believed to be aged 40 was pronounced dead at the scene. The death is not being treated as suspicious.”
