‘As a family, we all have a really great relationship’: Zoe Ball shares the ‘brilliant inspiration’ behind her happy dynamic with ex-husband Norman Cook

Zoe Ball was married to DJ Norman cook, AKA Fatboy Slim, for 17 years before they separated in 2016. The couple share two children, Woody, 25, and 16-year-old Nelly.

Since the pair separated and eventually divorced, they have build a positive and amicable relationship, and Zoe says they managed this with the help of people around them who served as a "brilliant inspiration" when it came to co-parenting.

The former couple continue to live near each other and Zoe shares, "As a family, we all have a really great relationship. We make lots of time for our kids together. I know it’s not always possible."

It was actually Norman's parents who helped shape this happy dynamic. Divorced themselves, Zoe says they "were a brilliant inspiration for me because they made a point of all being able to be together."

She says, "When we broke up I was like, ‘I want this for my kids,'" wanting to replicate what Norman's mum and dad had done.

In conversation with The Times, the presenter also reflects on her empty nest. Woody is now living in Bristol, and Nelly recently decided to live full time with Norman just before sitting her GCSEs, after moving between both parents' houses for a while.

Describing her house as "so quiet," Zoe explains Nelly's choice, saying, "She comes and goes but basically she had all her revision notes pinned to her dad’s wall like a CSI crime case. So it was just easier to be based there than going between two houses."

She's not entirely alone, with Woody sometimes visiting with his girlfriend, and her new partner now living with her.

She describes her boyfriend, TV production designer Mathieu Weekes, as "very wonderful." Zoe shares, "He’s not in the public eye, he doesn’t love all that stuff," and when she mentions him on her popular Dig It podcast, Zoe refers to Mathieu as "the lodger."

As well as being open about her co-parenting and family dynamic, Zoe often talks about her grief journey after losing several people close to her, particularly reflecting on the loss of her mum Julia to pancreatic cancer in 2024.

After being estranged from her mum until she was an adult, Zoe ended up building a close relationship with Julia after they reconciled.

She once expressed intense anger at her mum's death, and said on her podcast that her loss felt "almost like torture," and that she kept her "alive through love and memory" and "still talking" to Julia.

Offering a fresh update on where she finds herself with her grief, Zoe says, "Grief only gets greater really,” adding, "I miss my mum so much, you just want to share so much with them."

Zoe continues, "I had a lovely conversation with Woody’s girlfriend about how some of Mum’s ashes are still in the lounge." Her mum had once said to Zoe, "Put me in the bin," and she'd had to tell her, "No, Mum, we’re not doing that."

Her choices are often guided by her mum, as Zoe reveals, "I think, 'What would Mum do?' And in most situations, I know she’d always find some laughter and some joy."

The presenter concludes on a bittersweet tone, saying, "Life is so short, so precious, we have to live hard and live well when we can."