Zoe Ball has sparked concern amid her sudden absence on her radio 2 show on Monday morning.
Listeners tuning in expecting to hear the presenter, 53, were instead greeted by Scott Mills, who confirmed that Zoe would be off for a ‘few weeks’ and shared that the team were ‘sending their love’ to Zoe.
Stand-in host Scott, 51, said at the start of the show at 6.30am: ‘Good Morning. You weren’t expecting me were you? Welcome to Monday. It’s Scott Mills.’
Addressing the sudden change, he continued: ‘If you set your alarm every morning to go off at 6.30 and normally Zoe comes on please do not freak out. You have not overslept. I’m here doing the Breakfast Show do not panic. It’s early. You aren’t late for work. It’s Monday 12th August.’
Later on in the show, Scott once again discussed Zoe’s absence, telling fans who had just tuned in: ‘If you’ve just put us on this morning, it’s Scott Mills in for Zoe for the next few weeks. I’m sending you all my love Zo’ as are the team.
Addressing the sudden change, he continued: ‘If you set your alarm every morning to go off at 6.30 and normally Zoe comes on please do not freak out. You have not overslept. I’m here doing the Breakfast Show do not panic. It’s early. You aren’t late for work. It’s Monday 12th August.’
Later on in the show, Scott once again discussed Zoe’s absence, telling fans who had just tuned in: ‘If you’ve just put us on this morning, it’s Scott Mills in for Zoe for the next few weeks. I’m sending you all my love Zo’ as are the team.
A BBC representative confirmed to MailOnline that Zoe is ‘taking time off’ and won’t return until September.
Zoe’s non-appearance comes after she pulled out of Friday’s show at the last minute, having informed her fans the night before that she would be on air as she told them: ‘See you at dawn.’
Instead, Gaby Roslin was drafted in at the 11th hour, with neither she or Scott giving a reason as to why Zoe was missing.
Zoe had only been back on air for a week at the time following a lengthy break during the summer, with the radio star quipping to fans: ‘What did I miss?’ upon her return to work.
It comes after Zoe paid an emotional tribute to her late mother Julia Peckham in May, after holding her funeral following her death from pancreatic cancer.
The radio presenter took to her Instagram account to share family photos as she told her followers it had been a tough but ‘perfect’ day.
‘Yesterday we said goodbye to our dear Mama, Granny J. it was the perfect day and she would have loved it ☀️,’ she wrote.
‘Forever in our hearts Mama, thank you for your magic & love. missing you so much but holding tight to each other
Zoe went on to thank her two children Woody, 23, and Nelly, 14, for their eulogies, and the rest of her family and fans for their support.
‘Thank you to everyone who sent kind messages, cards & flowers. Big love to the many of you who have shared with us about your own loss and heartbreak, to those battling with cancer or looking after loved ones affected by cancer.
‘We wish you all the strength and love. and of course the humour you need to keep going. some days it’s so hard to be brave.’
‘Huge gratitude to @stewart_the_celebrant what a superstar he is. to Karen @choirandko to @nelly_co0k @woodycook Chris, Derek for bravely sharing most fabulous moving eulogies for Mum.’
Zoe vowed to fundraise for cancer research in the future after explaining how Julia died just 12 weeks after her February diagnosis.
‘My wonderful brother Jamie @tikikontiki and i will be fundraising in the future for the fantastic caring folk at @stpeterstjames & @pancreaticcanuk let’s hope one day more can be done to help those diagnosed. our Mum was diagnosed In February, we lost her in just 12 weeks.
The carousel of family photos showed childhood snaps of Julia and ones of Zoe as a young child with her mother, through to more recent shots that captured Julia as ‘Granny J’.
Zoe had previously announced her mum’s cancer diagnosis in March.
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