A look back at Zoe Ball's tumultuous relationship with Fatboy Slim ex-husband Norman Cook as he supports her amid Radio 2 absence

Zoe Ball was photographed being comforted by ex-husband Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, outside a café in Hove earlier this week - amid her absence from her Radio 2 show.

The DJ, who is the BBC 's highest paid female star earning £950,000-a-year, has been on extended leave from her show since August 8, with Gaby Roslin and Scott Mills filling in.

As concern has grown around her unexplained absence her son Woody, 23, - who Zoe shares with Fatboy Slim - said she was going through some 'tough times'.

BBC bosses have been supporting Zoe, 53, through her difficult time and on Sunday she confirmed that she would be return to the station on Monday morning.

Zoe continues to have a close relationship with Norman, 61, the father of her two children Woody and Nelly, 14, and is thought to have sold her £2million country home in Sussex recently to move to a townhouse between Brighton and Hove, close to where he lives.

The former couple were married for 18 years and were known for their notorious partying in the Noughties before splitting in 2016. They divorced in 2020.

Both Zoe and Norman are now teetotal having admitted issues with alcohol and both had stints in rehab.

Last year Norman credited his former wife for keeping him down to earth when he was at the height of his fame.

He told the Changes podcast: 'One thing I did have to keep a lid on during that crazy time was my ego.

'While you've got licence to break rules, you've always got a lot of people who'll let you get away with murder.

'Zoe was really good for me for that, because she knew the fame game and we would sort of check each other.

'If I wasn't respectful to people, she'd go: 'Oi, come on, that's not how we behave! Go back and thank them for that.'

'We were both quite good at keeping each other's feet on the ground. Because it's hard when everyone's saying: 'Here, have this, take this, drink this, you're brilliant.'

'It's hard to keep some kind of limit and say: 'I am actually a human being, not a superstar.' I think we probably saved each other a lot of bother.'

In 2016 Norman said he was still mending his 'wounded heart' more than two years after his break-up with Zoe.

At the time Zoe had moved on with boyfriend Michael Reed and the DJ at the time ruled out dating as his 'heart's not ready' to find love again.

'I'm single, I'm definitely not on Tinder,' he told the Daily Star at the time.

'It's been 18 years since I was in this situation, I've forgotten what the rules are.

'My heart's not ready. My heart is still wounded to be honest.'

Norman and Zoe began their romance in 1997 after they met in Ibiza and they married two years later at Babington House in Somerset.

They split briefly in 2003 when it emerged she had an affair with a close friend of her husband's DJ Dan Peppe.

Following the revelation Norman said he still loved Zoe and would take her back, as long as she promised never to see Peppe again.

The Praise You hitmaker confessed at the time: 'I still love her. If you love someone you'll forgive them.

'I've spoken to her today and she is genuinely remorseful.'

However in September 2016 they announced their separation, nine months after Zoe was seen embracing Franklin Lake singer Tay Tay Starhz, 22, at the December 2015 festive wrap party for Strictly Come Dancing's BBC2 spin-off show It Takes Two.

In a joint statement, the pair wrote: 'With great sadness we are announcing that we have separated.'

As concern has grown around her unexplained absence - Woody broke his silence on her absence on the radio on Thursday.

He exclusively told MailOnline: 'My mum and I like to keep our private lives to ourselves but I will say I have stepped up and spent a lot more time with her recently as she has always been there when I've had tough times. I'm glad to see her smiling.'

Sources close to the star also told MailOnline she has been given 'as much time as she needs' by the BBC, who acted similarly when she took time off in March to care for her ill mother Julia Peckham who passed away from cancer a month later.

As Zoe was spotted for the first time in weeks on Thursday, BBC bosses are said to be doing 'everything they can' to help her return to work when she is ready.

A source told MailOnline: 'Zoe's had a tough few months. She had the death of her mum in April to deal with and it's not been an easy time for her.

'She has taken the time off because she needed a break with everything that has been going on for her. Her bosses are being very supportive and just want her to be in a place where she is ready to return to work.

'Zoe is expected to come back before the end of the month. Nobody is telling her an exact date to come back, the decision is very much on her.

'She's been told to take all the time she needs.'

Before her leave of absence, Zoe had been on holiday in Ibiza and attended Brighton Pride.

But just three days back into her job, the former Live & Kicking presenter took another extended break.

Zoe took over from Chris Evans as the host of the Radio 2 Breakfast Show in January 2019, becoming the first woman to front the station's flagship show.

She quit her role on Strictly Come Dancing spin-off show It Take Two in May 2021 to concentrate on her radio duties, having become a hit with fans.

But regularly listeners were shocked to hear Radio 2 colleague Scott Mills' voice on August 12, when he filled in for Zoe unannounced.

Scott said: 'If you set your alarm this morning to go off at 6:30am and normally Zoe comes in, please do not break out. You have not overslept

'If you've just put us on this morning, it's Scott Mills in for Zoe for the next few weeks.

'I'm sending you all my love Zo, as are my team.'

Fans have become concerned by the silence regarding the presenter's absence, as well as Zoe's lack of interaction on social media where she has been usually quiet.

Her last post on Instagram was on August 8, highlighting an interview clip from ex Radio 1 Breakfast DJs Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley, best known as Mark and Lard, who revealed they wanted Zoe to be their own 'showbiz reporter' while they were fronting the show back in the Nineties.

Three days previously, she posted a snap of herself with children Woody and Nelly, claiming they were tired from their partying in Ibiza and Brighton Pride.

And before her summer break, she lauded her personal trainer who she revealed has been working out with her twice a week over the last year and 'hugely helped with my strength, menopause symptoms, anxiety and helped boost my confidence.'

Neither Radio 2 or Zoe personal reps have offered any confirmed insight into her absence from the show, sparking even more worry from listeners.

Many have voiced their frustration on X that Zoe's absence, and lack of intel from bosses, is unfair on licence fee payers.

One wrote: 'Is this a BBC scandal, complete misuse of licence payers' funds.

'Zoe Ball gets to pick and choose her contract terms and conditions.

'She's never at work, more holidays than you can imagine. Are we mugs paying for this? No comment.'

Another added: 'Why are the BBC still paying Zoe Ball when she is still off air, just get rid of her for someone who does want to work early morning shift.'

As well as taking time off this summer and for her look after her ill mother in March, Zoe also spent three weeks away from the station last year to host Mamma Mia! I Have A Dream for rivals ITV.

The series, set in Corfu, won't be returning for a second season.

Zoe has been grieving the death of her beloved mother in recent months and in August said that coping with her grief was 'harder than I could ever have imagined'.

Zoe has been beset by hardship over the last few years.

Following the breakdown of her marriage to Fatboy Slim, Zoe found love again with her partner Billy Yates, but their relationship was also not set to last.

After a long battle with depression, Billy, 40, took his own life in May 2017 at his home in Putney, London.

The Radio 2 presenter previously told how she felt 'really grateful' he had said goodbye to her the last time she saw him.

Fighting back tears as she spoke about their final moments together, she said: 'He got on his bike and he cycled off and he turned round and he blew me a kiss goodbye, and that was the last time I saw him.'

She added: 'It was just that moment and that feeling of ''Oh my god I love him so much, we'll find some help and it will all be okay.''

'And I wish I'd told him that.'

A year after his death, Zoe took part in a gruelling Sport Relief challenge to cycle 350 miles in five days in his memory and to raise awareness of mental health issues.

In May the star paid tribute just a week after confirming the tragic death of her mother Julia.

Despite her loss, the presenter found the courage to love again when she began dating former construction worker Michael Reed.

But while friends said he was a 'true gent' at first, their relationship broke down after more than five years in May 2023 after Michael allegedly became 'a bit demanding'.

The couple had reportedly been arguing about very minor aspects of their life, such as Zoe spending time on her phone talking to friends.

The presenter soon asked Michael to move out of her home, although the two are said to remain on good terms.

In previous years, Zoe opened up on her struggles with alcohol and wild partying, having become the poster girl for ladette culture.

The mother-of-two said it took her several attempts to tackle her alcohol problem that accompanied her career from children's television presenter to the first female host of Radio 1's Breakfast Show.

She said previously: 'You'll find that you'll deal with it a little bit but then you slip back into old ways, It took me a couple of attempts to sort that out.'

Explaining how she finally dealt with her problem drinking, Zoe said: 'I was lucky enough to go to rehab actually and through meeting other people who had addictions as well.'

Her reputation as a party girl increased after her 1999 marriage to superstar DJ Fatboy Slim, when she often found herself among other female stars known for their booze-fuelled antics.

'It's weird, because you do this job and you are talking and are gregarious and all these things but I am actually quite shy. But you could walk into the room if you'd had a drink.'