Zoe Ball has ‘dreaded’ news about a family member confirmed during Who Do You Think You Are? appearance

Zoe Ball has spoken openly about being estranged from her mother, Julia, from when she was a toddler until the pair reunited when Zoe was 18.

Julia died of pancreatic cancer in 2024 at the age of 74, and the presenter has shared the feelings of anger and grief about her death that are compounded by how many years they spent apart.

When Zoe agreed to take in genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? she wanted to find out more about her grandmother on her mum's side, and ended up getting some news about her she'd "dreaded."

Latest Videos From

Margaret 'Peggy' Minto, Zoe's grandmother, had been committed to a mental hospital for acute mania after being caught shoplifting, and becoming "extravagant" with money, developing "grandiose ideas" about her life.

Peggy became depressed when her husband was living away with her other two children, and she was left alone to bring up Julia, who was 13 at the time.

At the age of 15, Peggy had gone to work as a domestic servant for wealthy families, and Zoe ponders whether seeing their way of life influenced some of her ideas of grandeur.

Speaking about her grandmother, Zoe says, "She goes to work in a house for some very wealthy people, and she's suddenly surrounded by all that grandiose behaviour, so she's seen the good life and wants a bit of that herself."

In the run-up to her trial for shoplifting, records show Peggy had been "depressed" and "disinterested," often falling asleep easily. However, on the day of her trial she was suddenly "cheerful," later leading Zoe to believe she might've had bipolar disorder.

As Julia was alone with Peggy, Zoe says, "It's hard as an adult to know how to look after someone going through a mental health crisis, but as a 13-year-old girl - I really feel for them."

Zoe is shown evidence of Peggy's behaviour in the form of a letter written to friends from the hospital ward, telling them she'd pay for a trip to Norway as she'd just won a sum of money from a lawsuit against Woolworths.

The letters would not have been sent, instead being kept as evidence of her mental state. "It's an amazing demonstration of what it is like inside someone's mind who is going through this, Zoe says.

The presenter is also shown evidence that her grandmother was administered electroconvulsive therapy (ECT.)

"I dreaded the idea she would've gone through this," Zoe says, sadly. She's told that Peggy was given medication to make the treatment "less brutal," and wanted to know whether it worked - she's told results were quite mixed for the therapy.

Zoe is later shown further letters written by Peggy showing a much more stable state of mind. These cause the presenter to shed some tears to find out there was a point her grandmother was "doing well" after her inpatient stay.

Speaking about her decision to appear on the show, Zoe says, "I wanted to know more about my background. I mostly grew up with my dad and didn’t reconnect with my mum until my late teens, but I know she was always really keen to look into her family history."

The star says she now feels "much closer to that side of the family," adding, "Although we became much closer as I got older, I didn’t really grow up with my mum. So it was very interesting to learn more about her mother, Peggy, and to understand that because of Peggy’s mental health struggles, my mum Julia also missed out on time with her own mother growing up."

Although she feels "sad" not to be able to share her findings from the show with Julia, Zoe says, "I’ll carry this experience with me for the rest of my life, it’s been an incredibly fulfilling journey, and one I’ll never forget."

Zoe's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on May 26.