Zoe Ball has become the first major name to publicly throw her hat in the ring to replace Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman as host of Strictly Come Dancing.
The presenter, 54, made the admission on her Dig It podcast with fellow broadcaster Jo Whiley, reacting to the shock news that Tess, 56, and Claudia, 53, will step down after more than a decade hosting together.
“I thought it was such a shocker for everyone - we were all like, what? My phone was going beep, beep!” she said of learning the news. “What? Why did you not tell me this was happening?' It's like, ‘I didn't know! Why would I know?’”
“I just want to say to the girls, bravo. I think they're both fab and they're going to be a tough act to follow on that show,” Ball added of the show’s departing presenters.
But when Whiley asked her directly: “Would you like to do it?”
Ball admitted: “I think everyone would like to do that job. It's an amazing job. It's the best Saturday night show.
“When I'm watching Ellie dancing with Vito or Lewis and Katya and Alex and JoJo.... they're just so amazing. It still brings so much joy to people's lives, that show. Whoever takes over will have the best gig in the world.”
She added: “Everyone's going to want that job. There will be queues going around the block.”
Ball’s comments make her the first high-profile contender to express interest in fronting the BBC’s flagship entertainment show following Daly and Winkleman’s exit announcement, which has left a coveted vacancy at the heart of Strictly.
The broadcaster is no stranger to the Strictly family — she hosted its spin-off show It Takes Two for a decade, from 2011 to 2021, after previously competing on the main series herself in 2005, where she finished runner-up with professional dancer Ian Waite.
Her long association with the show makes her a frontrunner in the eyes of many viewers, though Ball was quick to downplay her chances.
Whiley revealed she’s so confident Zoe would be perfect for the job that she’s literally bet on it : “I've already been down the bookies... I've put everything I own on Alan Carr doing that show, because I think he'd be perfect, with you as the main presenter.
“You would do it best... I love hearing the love that you have for Strictly and the knowledge that you have for Strictly. When you talk about it, it's such a fire within you. It's such a passion.”
Ball admitted her job decisions are now largely dictated by her children, saying: “There are definitely shows where my kids are like, yes, you could do that. No, you can't do that. Please don't do that one. You would totally humiliate yourself. Yes, you're absolutely right.”
Trying to deflect some of the attention, she then added: “I think my ship may have passed, but that's okay. I often think this about The Traitors and those shows - do you want to work on them, or do you want to watch them? Because they're so good.”
The Radio 2 host’s potential return to primetime comes just months after she stepped down from her high-profile breakfast show after nearly six years in the hot seat.
She took over from Chris Evans in 2019, becoming the first woman to host the station’s flagship programme solo — and one of the BBC’s highest-paid presenters, reportedly earning around £950,000 a year.
At the time, Ball said she wanted to “spend more time with family” and pursue new projects.
She shares two children — Woody, 25, and Nelly, 15 — with ex-husband Norman Cook, better known as Fatboy Slim. But in a candid admission this summer, the presenter revealed she’s begun to question the move, joking that her teenage daughter is “never home anyway.”
Reflecting on that decision, she admitted earlier this year that she’s questioned stepping away: “I gave up work because she's going to do her GCSEs but she's never there. She's out with her mates.
“I'm like, 'I've given up work for you’,” she said. “I am like 'What did I give up for?' Yeah, I have thought about it because I've been through this a bit with Woody, but I had the joy of having Nell still around. I don't know’.”
During their conversation, Ball also took time to celebrate the legacy Tess and Claudia will leave behind, describing their partnership as “groundbreaking.”
She said: “Those girls broke glass ceilings... to have two girls at the helm of a Saturday night entertainment show was so unique. And why shouldn't it be that way? It's brilliant. The girls together have made that show so fantastic.
“They're such a brilliant double act. And I love the fact they've owned this story and they're going together and they've decided this now is the time to do that.”
