Greatest Hits Radio host and former Strictly Come Dancing star Zoe Ball offered words of support to a podcast listener as she opened up about an emotional challenge
Zoe Ball has opened up about an emotional turning point that many parents and carers will relate to. The former BBC Radio 2 presenter recently revealed that her daughter Nelly had moved in with her father, Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim.
This came after their son Woody Cook, a reality star and DJ, packed his bags and left to study at university in Bristol in 2020.
With a much quieter household, Zoe sympathised with a listener of her and Jo Whiley’s Dig It podcast who had been struggling with empty nest syndrome.
The presenter told the listener, named Cat, that the first month is the hardest, though she reassured her that the feeling of emptiness gets better with time.
Recalling how she felt when Woody first left, she admitted: “Woody went off and I’d often be found crying on his bed, you know, and I still miss him.”
Noting that children leave home to go and find themselves, Zoe stressed that they always “need” their parents in some way. Sharing a recent example, she said her son was stuck in Amsterdam and called her first for help.
“They’re always going to need you in a slightly different way,” she added. “Empty nest is a big thing and it’s tough to get through but you will get through it and you miss them.”
Zoe’s co-host Jo agreed, saying she struggled intensely when the first of her four children went off to university, while also reassuring the listener that things would be okay.
“I cried so hard, I couldn’t breathe because I was crying so hard,” she shared. Jo went on to say that while she’s “better” at coping with it now, she was still dreading the moment her daughter Coco goes off to study.
Back in May, Zoe revealed that her house had become much quieter after Nelly decided to move in with her dad.
She told Jo at the time: “It’s less and less [noise] because Nel is based more at her dad’s now. I think she’s got to that point of, ‘Ah, can I just be in one place?’
Zoe went on to say that being at her dad’s house was much easier, as this is where her “revision notes” were mostly plastered over the walls.
“It’s just nice not having to move from house to house, so she’s just spending more time there now,” she added, before confirming that it hasn’t made an enormous difference to their relationship, as her ex lives so nearby.
“It’s only around the corner and I can nip round at any time, which is great, and she can come here if she gets upset about anything like, ‘Mum, I need you’, but it’s less and less,” she added.
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