Zoe Ball explains why her mum wasn't in her childhood leaving TV star dad Johnny to raise her as BBC's Who Do You Think You Are? returns
Zoe didn't see her mum Julia for 14 yearsZoe Ball is tracing her family history in the new series of Who Do You Think You Are? but fans might be left wondering why she was raised by her dad.
The radio and telly star, 55, begins tonight’s episode by revealing that she had no contact with her mum from the age of five.
Zoe explains she was brought up by her children’s TV presenter dad, Johnny Ball.
Once she had turned 18, Zoe did get back in contact with her mum, Julia, again.
However, the episode does not explain the reason behind it all. So what happened?
Zoe Ball on Who Do You Think You Are?
Zoe begins tonight’s Who Do You Think You Are? in her hometown of Brighton with her teenage daughter Nelly.
It’s explained that her own parents, Johnny and Julia, divorced when she was just a toddler.
Zoe says: “I think with things being a little bit tricky, and they both met new partners, it was decided at some point that I would stay with my dad. And it was pretty tough.
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“I didn’t see my mum for about 14 years, which is a long time for a kid not to see her mum. And when we did connect again when I was 18, there was a lot of making up to do.”
Zoe tells the Who Do You Think You Are? cameras that she never even met her maternal grandmother – Julia’s mum – Peggy.
“Her name was Margaret but everyone called her Peg,” Zoe says. “For a time she was in what I guess they would call an asylum in those days because she struggled with her mental health.
“Families are fascinating because there are stories families tell and stories families hush up.”
Zoe says Julia was “really excited” about her having a dig into their family history.
But tragically, she died from cancer in April 2024, months before Who Do You Think You Are? was filmed.
Why was Zoe raised by Johnny? Where was her mum?
Zoe finds out a lot about her family tree in tonight’s Who Do You Think You Are?. She discovers the truth about her grandma Peg’s mental health battles and traces her family even further back to the Victorian period.
One of her relatives, her four-times great grandmother, was jailed for six-weeks in a silent prison with her two-year-old son following an ‘assault’.
But what isn’t explained is why Zoe was brought up by Johnny.
The former Radio 2 host previously revealed the truth behind her family dynamic, which was unusual in the 1970s.
Julia walked out of the family home when Zoe was two. She was 21 at the time and, by within three years, they were no longer in contact with each other.
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According to Mail Online, Zoe previously said in an interview: “I had always been a complete Daddy’s girl, so there was no question who I’d stay with.
“Dad was always really cool about me seeing Mum if I wanted to. But although she sent birthday cards and presents, I never responded. Mum was around, and I knew she was there. But she had her life, and I had mine.”
‘Blissfully happy childhood’
Johnny remarried Di, who Zoe referred to as “Mumly”. She says her childhood was “blissfully happy”.
When asked why she thinks Julia walked out, Zoe said: “She was young, didn’t want to be a mum, so legged it. I can understand that.”
Zoe and Julia reunited when she was 18. They “slotted straight back in” to each other’s lives and formed a really close bond.
Following Julia’s death, Zoe was absolutely devastated. But she takes comfort in knowing they “made up for lost time” long before her mum died.
