Zoe Ball pulled out of hosting her live BBC Radio 2 show on Saturday (06.05.17) afternoon following the shock death of her boyfriend Billy Yates earlier this week.
The ‘Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two’ presenter was replaced by Kate Thornton on the airwaves today so that she could grieve for her late beau in private after he was found dead at his home in south London on Thursday (04.05.17) evening.
Kate, 44, opened the show at 15:00 BST today by announcing she was standing in for Zoe following the passing of Billy and was sending her the "the biggest hugs."
The blonde beauty said before she kicked off the show: "Sadly our lovely Zoe Ball can’t be here today. From everyone on the show and here at Radio 2, our thoughts are with Billy, his family and friends, and of course with you Zoe."
The tragic news has hit Zoe hard and, although she’s asked for privacy at his tough time, she took to her Instagram account this morning to pay her respects.
The brunette beauty uploaded a photo of a pink flower and wrote: "My sweet love."
A source said recently: "Zoe is overcome with grief. She is completely and utterly devastated. Billy had made her happy again after the most horrendous year when her marriage broke down.This was completely out of the blue.
"She had no feeling that this was coming and is in total shock. As far as we know this occurred at his house in south London and it was friends who raised the alarm.
"She’s going to need a lot of time to grieve. This just feels so unfair because Zoe had finally found happiness with Billy and had so many exciting plans for their future. It’s devastating. There’s nothing else other than devastation today."
A spokesperson for Metropolitan Police confirmed officers were called to a residential address in Putney, South London at 18.40 and, although he was already dead when they arrived, they are not treating the circumstances as "suspicious."
The statement said: "Police were called to a residential address in Putney, South London at 18.40 on Thursday 4th May, to reports of a man found deceased. Officers attended alongside staff from the London Ambulance Service, and a man believed to be aged 40 was pronounced dead at the scene. The circumstances are not being treated as suspicious, and the coroner has been informed."
Zoe’s relationship with Billy came shortly after she split from her husband Norman Cook – also known as Fatboy Slim – after she was spotted smooching 23-year-old boyband singer Tay Tay Starhz in a London nightclub.
Zoe Ball pulls out of radio show after death of boyfriend
