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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Lisa McLoughlin

Zoe Ball’s ex-husband Fatboy Slim scolds her live on BBC Radio 2 after she ‘forgets’ his name

Zoe Ball was jokingly scolded by her ex-husband Norman Cook live on-air after she momentarily “forgot” who he was.

The broadcaster and DJ, otherwise known as Fatboy Slim, married in 1999 and went on to welcome two children, Woody, 22, and 13-year-old Nelly.

However in 2016, the pair announced that they had “come to the end of our rainbow” after 18 years of marriage.

The former couple are still on good terms, so much so the musician appeared on her BBC Radio 2 breakfast show on Friday ahead of his set at this weekend’s Glastonbury.

Introducing the 59-year-old to her show, Ball spoke about Cook’s successful career before she paused and admitted she “almost forget” his DJ name.

She began: “I now welcome to the show somebody you may know from The Housemartins, Pizzaman, Beats International — I nearly forgot what you were called then, sorry.”

Ball pictured with their son Woody (PA)

To which Cook cheekily replied: “And such things as our marriage.”

“And such things as our marriage,” Ball, 52, quipped. “It is Fatboy Slim AKA Norman Cook.”

The pair’s playful interaction comes weeks after Cook praised the TV star for keeping him grounded throughout his successful career.

He shared on Changes with Annie MacManus: “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.”

He added: “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.”

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