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 Zoë
was born on 23 November 1970 and raised by her father Johnny Ball, a
TV presenter, and her stepmother Di. She never perceived her father as being
famous and she says his public life didn't affect her childhood. She was
educated by nuns at the all-girl Holy Cross Convent School in
Chalfont St Peter. She hated that school so much that her father transferred
her to a public school, where she slowly developed into a regular
"boy-magnet".
At 17 she went to college to read English, despite her dyslexia. English
was her favourite subject in school and she loved to make up stories.
Poetry, however, is not her strongest literary side. Instead, she sometimes
puts words from songs or movies on a card to a loved one. Her aspirations,
however, were never academic but to be a TV star. So as soon as she
got her job at Granada through talking to the friend of a friend of a
friend, she left the academic existence to pursue her life-long
ambition.
 Music
is one of her big passions. She'd loved to have been a "rock chick",
but unfortunately her musical talents are rather limited. Her ultimate pop
icon is Jarvis Cocker, front-man of Pulp. Some of her other favourite
bands include Massive Attack, Portishead, Green Day, Oasis and Radiohead. Zoë
is a sucker for Christmas songs, like "So here it is: merry
Christmas" by Slade. Also, "Linger" by the Cranberries brings
a tear to her eye every time she hears it. Zoë courageously confesses to
like all Barbara Streisand songs. Beside listening to music she can
be found regularly in the pub, drinking Jack Daniels till the cows
come home, and roaming the London club scene.
Zoë has always preferred movies over books. She used to watch
B&W movies with her granny and admits she very much lived her life
through movies. She did a bit of acting herself at school, playing mostly
odd characters like mothers. One of her favourite actors is, not
surprisingly, Jim Carrey. She once met him and says to have been
totally smitten. Sharon Stone was also on the list of celebrity interviews
and although Zoë was quite nervous about meeting her, Sharon turned out to
be really cool. Woody Allen is one of her other idols and she still
regrets missing the change to meet him when he once visited the studio where
she was working at the time. But in all honesty Zoë doesn't really like to
meet famous movie stars, because she gets really nervous and a silver screen
hero can turn out to be a real twerp.
 Standing
a drop-dead gorgeous 5ft 10in, Zoë has done the occasional modeling.
But when they told her she had to lose some weight (?!) and quit eating her
favourite food chocolate, she quickly lost interest. Although her
physique is enchanting, Zoë herself is not too keen on her hands, ankles
and "huge" ears.
Zoë currently lives in London. She has cats and a half-brother Nick,
her soul mate, conscience and one of the few men who can laugh at her jokes.
She broke up with Dan Lywood, a club DJ, who she had been dating
since the beginning of 1998. Her latest and probably last love interest is
DJ/producer Norman Cook, better known as Fatboy Slim, to whom she's
married. Zoë admits to being a hopeless romantic. She can't get
enough of true romance, but hates the corny kind. Her idea of a chat-up line
is a note saying: "Fancy a cup of tea?" Her previous amorous
encounters include, but are by no means limited to, producer Nick Poyntz,
with whom she had a three-year relationship, and Louis Jones of the
indie band 'The Warm Jets'. Zoë doesn't really believe in astrology, but
she does say someone told her Aquarians and Taureans were a good match for
her. In the list of boyfriends a lot of them had these very same star
signs.
 She
also does her bit for charity, as she proved in June 1998 when she
launched the Abbey National Helping Hands campaign. "I always looked
out for bullied kids at school," says Zoë. "And I used to visit
an old people's home once a week!" She also backs Breakthrough,
a breast cancer research charity, of which Prince Charles is the
patron.
Zoë's advice to anyone who wants to be a TV presenter is to be enthusiastic,
have a go at everything at school like drama and the school newspaper, and
most importantly to be yourself and not act. She thinks she's a good
children's television presenter because of her enthusiasm. Her father once
told her that the day you stop being nervous before you go on television is
the day you should quit, and Zoë totally agrees with that. She is ambitious,
but not so much as she used to be. Zoë has no career plan and no immediate
plans to switch to television for an adult audience. Nowadays she tends to
sit back and let things run their course. And although she likes to get
thoroughly involved in making the programmes she works on, she wouldn't like
to be a producer or director. Zoë enjoys being a children's
television presenter and loves to be on the screen instead of working behind
it. And that's where I think this most refreshing and exciting female
presenter does her best work!
Zoë on Zoë: "Dizzy, scruffy, tomboyish, big-eared,
occasionally hopeless but well meaning, stunningly witty! Loud, large and
laughing..."
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