ZOE BALL is relieved she lost out on a Strictly Come Dancing hosting role – because it saves her from getting a facelift.
The former Radio 2 DJ reckoned she might need cosmetic surgery if she landed the Saturday night prime-time job.
But she was pipped at the post, with comedian Josh Widdicombe, presenter Emma Willis and dance pro Johannes Radebe this week unveiled as the new presenting line-up.
The trio will take over from Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly, who stepped down together after the last series of the BBC One dance contest.
Zoe told The Sun: “I screen tested with Josh and he is hilarious. He is going to be so good.
“Emma is just gorgeous and I love Johannes, so they are going to ace it.
“And I don’t have to have a facelift, so I’m quite happy.”
Zoe has sent her congratulations to the trio, and thinks they will revitalise the series in its 24th consecutive year.
She said: “I have messaged Emma, Josh and Johannes — they are going to be brilliant.
“You know what? It needed fresh energy, and you can totally see why that’s happening.
“It’s like, move forwards, and that is great.”
Former Strictly: It Takes Two host Zoe previously claimed she felt “grief” at not getting the most coveted presenting job in the entertainment industry.
On stage at The Podcast Show 2026 at London’s Business Design Centre on Wednesday, she joked about aiming a “rant” at Strictly’s producers.
She explained that her Dig It podcast with pal Jo Whiley includes a feature where angry fans, known affectionately as Diggers, can call to leave furious messages about whatever has irked them.
“You offload there. Now we have a number.”
While speaking to The Sun, Zoe clarified she had made the remark lightheartedly.
Despite her ambitions to host Strictly, she actually finds being in front of the camera “hell” now she is in her fifties.
Chatting alongside Jo to a Podcast Show audience, she said the pair had naively expected only their voices would be recorded when they started their podcast, but they are actually filmed for social media clips, much to their dismay.
Zoe explained: “For Jo and I, it’s hell. We both hate being in vision, that’s why we really loved doing radio. Then they started filming that.
“They film every- thing. And as we get older, we’re like, ‘Argh, dim the lights!
“We’d happily never be filmed again.”
Agreeing, Jo said with a groan: “We hate it.”
Zoe — who has temporomandibular joint disorder, which affects jaw movement — has previously talked about using Botox in a bid to combat the signs of ageing.
She said in 2022: “I have tried a few things including Botox, but I didn’t like how it made me feel and I hated that frozen look, so I won’t be having any more injectables.”
Years earlier, in 2011, she had jokingly said: “I had Botox in my forehead, but it moves again now. Because I’ve got a fringe, all my friends laughed at me for getting it done.
“I’ve had a little bit more done in the crease of my nose, but I can still move my face.”
Zoe also has buccal massages on her face, and £120 lymphatic drainage massages on her stomach, administered by a body contourist.
She has described how her menopause symptoms, which included weight gain, anxiety and mood swings, felt like “the beginning of the end” and prompted her to experiment with more treatments.
Earlier this month, Zoe spoke candidly about being disappointed to miss out on the Strictly gig, which she had been tipped to get.
She said on her Dig It podcast: “I didn’t get it, but it’s OK. I have worked through the seven stages of grief and rejection over the last couple of days.
“No, I didn’t get it. But I tell you what, if who I think has got it, we’re in safe hands and our new hosts are going to be fabulous.
“I’m so thrilled for them and hopefully, at a later date, we’ll be able to talk about them in more detail.”
Rylan Clark, who was also in the running for the job, joked he was “taking the news well” after he lost out.
And he teased that he was crying as inconsolably as his famously dramatic scenes in X Factor 2012, when Nicole Scherzinger told him he was through to the live shows. Huge names in broadcasting including Holly Willoughby, Alan Carr, Amanda Holden and Alison Hammond had been included in discussions to present Strictly, but previously ruled themselves out.
The One Show’s Alex Jones also screen tested, as did comic Miranda Hart, but neither was deemed to be the right fit.
The new Strictly hosting trio will take up their roles in September, and the show’s executive producer Sarah James said their chemistry was “unexpected, but their magic was undeniable the moment they came together”.
Emma said: “I’m a huge fan of Strictly — I’ve cheered and danced along from my sofa for years.
“So to be stepping into the Strictly ballroom is something I can’t quite comprehend.
“It’s impossible to fill the shoes that Tess and Claudia have left behind — two wonderful, iconic women who have been the beating heart of Strictly for so long.”
Josh, who appeared dressed as a penguin in the 2024 Christmas Strictly special, said he felt “giddy with excitement, honoured and a little over-awed to be given the chance to step into the biggest shoes in television”.
He added: “I’ll dust off the penguin costume.”
Johannes, who joined the show as a dancer in 2018 and left the professionals after the last series, said: “To be returning to Strictly Come Dancing in this new role is beyond anything I ever imagined.
“This show has always stood for joy, heart and togetherness, and I feel deeply honoured to now help carry that magic forward.
“To do it alongside the formidable Emma Willis and the utterly brilliant Josh Widdicombe makes it even more special. I’m ready, sequins, nerves and all . . . please bear with me.”
Before stepping down from Radio 2 in 2024, Zoe was the BBC’s highest-paid female broadcaster, earning around £950,000 in 2023-2024.
Strictly is produced by a separate entity, BBC Studios, which does not disclose its stars’ fees, though reports estimated Tess and Claudia were earning around £400,000.
