Zoe Ball gave a rare insight into her parenting secrets by sharing the one “weird” thing she’d hate her two children to do. The broadcasting legend, who made a triumphant return to BBC Radio 2 two months ago following a break, is mum to Woody, 24, and Nellie, 14, both of whom she shares with ex-husband Norman ‘Fatboy Slim’ Cook.
Zoe has made no secret in the past of how close she is to her children, from enjoying Christmas trips abroad with them to appearing on Channel 4’s Celebrity Gogglebox with Woody. But even the fun mum confessed to laying down the law to her offspring, especially when it comes to names.
In a recent episode of her podcast Dig It, Zoe and co-host – fellow BBC Radio 2 star Jo Whiley – were asked by one of their listeners how they would react to their children calling them by their real names instead of “Mum” and “Dad”.
READ MORE: Cat Deeley and Patrick Kielty split after 13-year marriage in bombshell statement
READ MORE: Ozzy Osbourne Birmingham funeral procession map and how to watch online
Jo made a startling five-word admission in response by saying “I couldn’t deal with that”, before Zoe revealed the one “weird” thing she’d hate her children to do.
“I mean, the kids can call me Zoe if they need my attention,” she began, before things took a bit of a turn. “I’m all for using the full name – someone’s full name, you know, middle names and everything if you need… You know, when they’re like, when you’re shouting to them, like, ‘Woody Cook!’ Then he might finally answer.
“But yeah, I’d hate it if my kids call me Zoe. That’d be really weird.”
With Zoe’s revelation out of the way, Jo then shed light into the three names her four children have for her. “I’m Mum or Mama or Ma sometimes. They’re the three names that I get called,” she added.
“But also that you can’t stop them is so frustrating, isn’t it? That they’re just going to carry on and that’s what they’re going to call you. And there is nothing you can do about it apart from ignore them.”
Zoe gave another revealing insight into her parenting style, admitting that it’s not always good for children to be so clingy to their parents when they are still young.
Both her and Jo were talking about how important it was for working mums to have a strong support system to help with babysitting so that they can have a few moments to themselves. Zoe was presenting Channel 4 chat show The Priory when she had Woody in 2000.
Despite admitting new parents can find it “tricky” to hand their children over to someone else briefly, Zoe called the experience “invaluable”.
“Now, if you’re lucky enough, you’ve got parents who support or friends who could come and give you a hand now and again, even if it’s just to give you that time to go and brush your teeth or have a shower or have 20 minutes to yourself,” she said.
“But having kids who will happily go to someone, whether that’s a regular babysitter or another family member or something like that, it’s kind of good for them. It’s good for the baby to not always be clung on to mum because I think if the longer and longer a baby will only go to mum, the less freedom you have.”
She continued: “And it’s really tricky because some parents – when you’re first parents, you don’t want to hand your baby over to anyone else. You want to do it all yourself and you want to be so fiercely independent.