Zoe Ball’s father has been texting her every day since her boyfriend committed suicide.
The ‘Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two’ presenter was left heartbroken two months ago when her partner Billy Yates killed himself following a secret battle with depression and, although she’s dealing with her grief in her own way, her dad Johnny Ball and his wife Dianne have been in regular contact with her to ensure she’s keeping her head up.
He said: "If she was next door we would pop round and say: ‘Are you OK?’ but we’re 60 miles away.
"So we text asking: ‘Are you OK? Keep your pecker up. Come on, be strong.’ "
And the TV veteran is so proud of the blonde beauty for returning to work.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror newspaper, he explained: "She’s started work again and the attention that needs takes her mind from dark thoughts."
The ‘Antiques Roadshow’ cameraman was found hanged at his home in Putney, South London, on May 4 by some of his concerned friends, Met Police confirmed.
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."
The tragic news hit Zoe hard and, although she’s asked for privacy at this tough time, she took to her Instagram account the weekend after his death 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."
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’s dad texts her every day
