Chris Evans once proposed to fellow radio DJ Zoe Ball while on a drinking bender, she has revealed.
Zoe said the unexpected offer came when Chris took her out for drinks after she had just presented a Saturday morning kids’ programme.
She said: “At the end of
one Saturday in my ear I heard a message from the gallery saying, ‘Zoe, you’ve got a caller, can you just come to the gallery to take this call.’
“I went in and it was Chris Evans and he went, ‘Right, what time do you get off work?’ I went, ‘Quarter past 12.’
“He said, ‘I’ll pick you up outside.’ So we go outside at quarter past 12 and there he is in a big posh car and he said, ‘Come on, we’re going out for a drink.’”
Zoe said the broadcaster, now 57, first offered advice about dealing with fame, the media business and press coverage.
With the pair portrayed as rivals by the media, Chris told Zoe: “Don’t worry, it’s all fun and games and a bit of competitiveness. He taught me quite a lot about what the business is about.”
And she revealed: “He also asked me to marry him, but I said no.
“I think he was always about big gestures and fun things. He was great fun and I really appreciate that he’s always been a big supporter.”
After her stint on Radio 1, Zoe worked on Strictly Come Dancing spin-off It Takes Two and on Radio 2, initially filling in before getting a weekend slot.
Zoe, who has two children with ex-husband Norman Cook, has now been Radio 2 Breakfast DJ for more than four years, taking over from Chris.
She loves the job so much, she says she will only leave the station if they sack her. Speaking on the Beyond The Title podcast, she added: “It’s a true privilege to do that show.
“I’m chuffed that I’ve still got a career at 52. There’s so many brilliant people on radio and television so I’m always very grateful to still be here, still doing it. You know, that could end at any moment.
“I could be cancelled immediately. I am so grateful. If I had to retire tomorrow I’d be very happy. I don’t know what I would do if I retired, I’d have to get a proper job, which is a terrifying prospect.”
She said of carving her own niche in the Radio 2 job: “It took a little while, we tried some things and we tried other things and then we had a pandemic but I think now we’ve found our own identity and we’ve got a lovely gang.”
But the shadows of former hosts loom large, Zoe admits.
She said: “It’s impossible to ever hit the heady heights of Sir Terry [Wogan], who was the greatest breakfast broadcaster we’ve ever had.”
