Zoe Ball Set for Greatest Hits Radio This Autumn
Zoe Ball is reportedly set to join greatest hits radio this autumn after missing out on the Strictly Come Dancing hosting job. The move would put her alongside another cluster of former names at the station, after she stepped away from Radio 2 Breakfast Show a year ago.
Ball was told in April that she had not secured the Strictly role, before Johannes Radebe, Emma Willis and Josh Widdicombe were named as the competition’s three new hosts. She later said on her Dig It podcast with Jo Whiley: “I didn’t get it, but it’s OK. I have worked through the seven stages of grief and rejection over the last couple of days.”
April’s Strictly decision
Ball had gone for the presenting job after Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman announced last year that they would be stepping back. That left the looking for three new hosts, and Ball’s name stayed in the frame until April, when she learned she was not successful.
She told listeners: “No, I didn’t get it, but I tell you, what, if who I think has got it, we’re in safe hands and our new hosts are going to be fabulous. I’m so thrilled for them, and hopefully at a later date, we’ll be able to talk about them in more detail.”
Greatest Hits Radio’s habit
A source said: “Greatest Hits have wanted her for a while and as soon as Zoe found out about the Strictly job, she decided to take it.” Another source added: “She absolutely loves being a radio presenter and after stepping away from her Radio 2 Breakfast Show a year ago, she took time to think about what she wanted.”
The same source said: “She knows so many people at the commercial station and can’t wait to get started.” That puts Ball into a station roster that already includes former talent such as Simon May and Ken Bruce, a pattern that makes her arrival part of a broader hiring strategy rather than a one-off move.
Ball’s next radio move
“The list of ex talent at Greatest Hits Radio is becoming a bit of a running joke. Now Zoe is joining the ranks, people are going to be talking even more,” one source said. Ball’s new slot gives her a quick return to regular radio after a year away from her breakfast show and a public rejection from one of television’s most visible presenting jobs.
For Greatest Hits Radio, the gain is straightforward: Ball brings name recognition, radio experience and a clean autumn launch after April’s disappointment on Strictly. For Ball, the practical outcome is even simpler — she stays in radio, and she does it at a station already built around familiar voices.
