Zoe Ball finds it "hard" to be "pitted against" friend Sara Cox.
The two BBC Radio 2 presenters have been good friends for years, and after they both landed big radio shows earlier this year – with Zoe taking over the coveted Breakfast Show, and Sara being handed the popular afternoon Drivetime slot – Zoe has admitted it can be a struggle knowing they’re each other’s biggest rivals.
She said: "We are pitted against each other and it is hard. There are jobs when I think, I would’ve liked that, and vice versa. She’s got jobs that I really wanted. There was the one with all the scientific inventions she got … I did want that it was brilliant! It was the countryside, a brilliant show."
But Zoe – who made history by becoming the first female to host the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show – admits it was "great" having Sara start her Drivetime show on the same day she began working on the Breakfast Show, because it meant they could both support each other.
Speaking to The Sun at the Radio Festival in London on Monday (13.05.19), the 48-year-old presenter added: "She would have been brilliant at the breakfast show. But she’s on Drive. And that was the great thing about my first day. There was that comfort that she was starting at the same day as well.
"Sara has gone and done a brilliant job on Drive. I’m proud of her."
Meanwhile, Sara, 44, recently hailed the fact that more women are taking the centre stage in broadcasting, and said she was proud of both herself and Zoe for their new positions.
She said: "I think the beauty of this moment is that there are more women coming through in broadcasting, and quite rightly so, and we should be supporting each other and celebrating each other, which we are.
"I think Zoe got the job because she’s a great broadcaster. I don’t think she got the job because she’s got fallopian tubes.
"It’s not because she’s a woman that she’s got the gig, and same with me. I’m hoping it’s because I’m good, funny and likeable."
Zoe Ball: It’s hard being pitted against Sara Cox
