Desert Island Discs

Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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Castaway guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

BBC Radio 4 LW

Desert Island Discs: Zoe Ball, broadcaster

Zoe Ball, broadcaster

BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Zoe Ball, broadcaster

Zoe Ball, broadcaster, shares the soundtrack of her life with Lauren Laverne

Zoe Ball, broadcaster and Radio 2 breakfast show host, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury she would want to take with her if cast away to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne

Zoe Ball is a radio and television presenter. She became the first woman to present the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show in 1997, and then the first woman to present the Radio 2 Breakfast Show in 2019. 

Zoe grew up in Buckinghamshire with her father – TV presenter Johnny Ball – and her stepmother. After working behind the scenes in TV as a runner and researcher, she first moved into the spotlight hosting children's programmes, including the very successful BBC Saturday morning show Live & Kicking, with Jamie Theakston.  In the late 1990s, coinciding with her move to the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, she found herself described in the press as a 'ladette', enjoying the partying culture of the time. Further headlines followed her marriage to superstar DJ Norman Cook - Fatboy Slim - in 1999. She decided to leave Radio 1 in 2000, and her first child, Woody, was born later that year. She and Norman announced their separation in 2016. 

Zoe was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, and has presented Strictly: It Takes Two since 2011.  In 2018, she cycled 350 miles from Blackpool to Brighton as part of Sport Relief, and to raise awareness of mental health, after her partner Billy Yates took his own life. She began presenting the Radio 2 Breakfast Show just over a year ago. 

She lives in Sussex with her two children, Woody and Nelly.

DISC ONE: Where Am I Going? by Barbra Streisand   
DISC TWO: Georgy Porgy (Disco Version) by Toto feat. Cheryl Lynn 
DISC THREE: Righteous by Ocean Wisdom feat. Rodney P & Roots Manuva
DISC FOUR:  Shoot You Down by The Stone Roses  
DISC FIVE:  Love Having You Around by First Choice 
DISC SIX: Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) by Frank Wilson 
DISC SEVEN: Truth by Kamasi Washington 
DISC EIGHT: You Can't Always Get What You Want by The Rolling Stones    

BOOK CHOICE:   A dictionary 
LUXURY ITEM:  A potting shed, gardening tools and seeds 
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE:  Truth by Kamasi Washington 

Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer:  Sarah Taylor

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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Desert Island Discs

Zoe Ball, broadcaster

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