TV and radio presenter Zoe Ball has talked to Grazia magazine about her struggles with alcohol, and how booze stopped her conceiving and nearly put her in a mental hospital.
The 40-year-old star claims there are huge chunks of her life she still can’t remember because of her abuse of alcohol.
Adding she only got pregnant with their second child after her and husband Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, gave up the drink.
She said: “I tried to straighten myself out several times, but I’d always go back – it’s so hard when everyone around you is drinking."
However, the final straw came when her home in Hove ended up trashed following a news years eve party in 2009.
She continued: “I sat sobbing, knowing if I didn’t stop I’d end up in a mental home. I called a therapist I’d been seeing and asked for help.”
Its bloody tough, bloody painful, trying to get sober on your own'
However, Zoe, who has been married to Cook for 11 years, was reluctant to go as she didn’t trust her husband, who also had alcohol problems, to look after their child Woody, now nine.
Zoe managed to give up the booze, but this caused rifts between her and Cook who refused to follow in her footsteps.
She said: “It’s bloody tough, bloody painful, trying to get sober on your own. The harder I tried, the more Norm went in the other direction.”
In March 2009 she finally managed to convince her husband, now 47, to give up and seek professional help.
She said: “I remember feeling so anxious. But he did it. What a man – he’s strong, he’s changed, he’s unbelievable and we are solid.”
Zoe, the original ladette, became famous after she replaced Chris Evans on the Radio One morning show. She told Grazia magazine that bosses were initially keen for her to be seen as a ladette.
She added: “I started trying to live up to the label. I loved it at first. Hanging out with people who partied every day, woke at 5pm, had a few shots of vodka and a bag of chips, then went clubbing again.”
Talking about how her and Cooks wild partying affected their son, Woody, Zoe says: "I think if we carried on, yes, it would have affected him but he was young enough to see the fun side. And he was always safely tucked up or with his grandparentsor nanny when we were partying."
Adding, "I did feel guilty about Woody, but I never felt guilty enough. I had fantastic childcare. In some ways I felt it was better than I could do.
In the interview Zoe also talks about her affair with DJ Dan Peppe in 2003, who she briefly left Cook for. They were reunited when Cook begged her to return and tried unsuccessful for another baby.
Zoe believes it was their drinking that hindered the conception of a second child. It was only after Cook came out of rehab and they went on holiday that Zoe fell pregnant with Nelly.
Adding: “Me and Norm call Nelly our gift of sobriety.”
By Heidi Vella