Zoe Ball has revealed she was left in tears after discovering her car had been broken into following a recent appearance on The One Show.
The BBC Radio 2 presenter discussed the frightening ordeal with Jo Whiley on the latest instalment of their Dig It podcast, admitting she felt partly responsible after leaving a bag visible on the front seat.
She explained: ‘Someone had smashed the front window of my car, that’s never happened to me before.
Zoe, 54, said she initially felt ‘a bit frozen’ as she tried to process what had happened and work out what to do next.
Resourcefully, she managed to find a festival-themed poncho in her car, which she used to cover the broken window.
She shared: ‘I wrapped it around the smashed door (and) slammed it tight and was like, “Right, okay, I’m probably going to have to drive from London to Brighton at 30 miles an hour”.’
Zoe Ball has revealed she was left in tears after discovering her car had been broken into, just moments after appearing on The One Show (pictured on her podcast)
The BBC Radio 2 presenter, 54, opened up about the frightening ordeal on her podcast with co-star Jo Whiley, 60, admitting she felt partly responsible after leaving a bag visible on the front seat (pictured previously on The One Show)
Despite the damage, Zoe said she was able to pick up speed, though her journey home was far from peaceful.
‘I’ve never heard the country show quite so loud in my ear,’ she joked, and credited her podcast partner’s radio show for helping her get home safely.
Looking back, Zoe confessed that the break-in might have been avoided if she hadn’t left her bag on the front seat.
She admitted: ‘I’m not very practical. Sometimes when things like that happen, I’m like, “Right, oh yes, what do I do? I don’t have any masking tape”. Anyway, they didn’t get anything valuable, so it was fine.’
When asked if the incident had left her shaken, Zoe confessed: ‘I got in and I had a massive cry.
She continued: ‘Do you know what I did? I did a stupid thing, I was so busy running into The One Show with my suits and my bag and everything.
‘And we were going to do a picture with our Spotify picture (team), which was amazing, and I left a bag on the front seat. Big no, no in London, idiot. Luckily, nothing in it except my diary.’
Zoe went on to describe the emotional release that followed: ‘It was good, I love a big blub. The ones where you wake up in the morning and your face is a bit swollen and you’re like, “Well, I’m glad I got that out”.’
She explained: ‘Someone had smashed the front window of my car, that’s never happened to me before’ (pictured at the BBC studio last week)
When asked if the incident had left her shaken, Zoe confessed: ‘I got in and I had a massive cry’
Her podcast co-host Jo Whiley sympathised, revealing that she too had been a victim of crime in the capital.
Recalling her own incident, she shared: ‘Just a boy on a bike just literally snatched it from my hand.
‘And then you having something (happen) like this, it’s just so disappointing that people would do that to another person.’
While Zoe’s not a regular fixture on the programme, she has certainly made her mark over the years as one of the show’s trusted guest presenters.
The BBC Radio 2 host has served as a relief presenter on The One Show across several stints – initially appearing in 2012 and 2013, then again between 2016 and 2017.
Most recently, she returned to the show in 2021, stepping in occasionally to co-host alongside the likes of Ronan Keating, Jermaine Jenas, and Alex Jones.
The One Show airs weeknights at 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
