Former Strictly Come Dancing contestant and BBC TV legend Johnny Ball has accused the corporation of ageism, claiming it drops its older and more experienced television stars in favour of younger presenters to appeal to Gen Z. The 88-year-old cited his own experience and that of his radio presenter daughter Zoe Ball.
Speaking at The Dorchester Literary Festival while promoting his memoir An Autobiography: Stories That Have To Be Told, Johnny said: "I did Play School for 17 years. I wrote nearly all of Play Away, then I did Think Of A Number and Think Again. I loved every minute of it. But what happens when you are 50 at the BBC? Gone! Zoe was 54. Gone! You cannot believe it because we gave so much to the BBC."
Zoe Ball's BBC Exit
Zoe, 55, stepped down from her role with the broadcaster last year, quitting the Breakfast Show in 2024 and her Saturday afternoon show just months later. She currently works for Greatest Hits Radio, where she hosts Zoe Ball in the afternoon daily between 1pm and 3pm.
Express.co.uk has contacted the BBC for comment.
Strictly Come Dancing Reflections
Johnny appeared on series 10 of the Saturday night dance competition in 2012, when it was hosted by the late Sir Bruce Forsyth alongside Tess Daly. He lasted two weeks, losing the first dance-off of that series to Good Morning Britain's Richard Arnold.
He also weighed in on the new Strictly presenters, saying: "Josh [Widdicombe] is not a Bruce Forsyth. He is a lovely bloke and I have met him a couple of times but he is not a domineering comedian as some comedians like Bruce Forsyth were."
Johnny added: "When I did Strictly, and I only did three shows, but on each show I gave Brucie a joke and he used them and he said to me, 'I have got a writer here and he does b****r all so thanks very much'." He also claimed the veteran star had intimated he should not have been knocked out of the show when he was, but added "that's whole other story."
Meanwhile, Zoe, who previously hosted the spin-off show It Takes Two and covered for Claudia Winkleman for three episodes in 2014, auditioned for the role but missed out on the job.
Family TV Project Plans
Johnny was following in Zoe's footsteps, appearing in the ballroom after she came third in the show in 2005 partnered with pro dancer Ian Waite.
In May this year, he disclosed that he is eager to film a television programme alongside his daughter and his grandson but is facing a significant obstacle. Speaking to The Times, he revealed: "I'd love to work on a TV project with Zoe and my grandson Woody. But I can't get anyone to pick it up."
He added: "The idea is that we look at the history of Greek maths from three generations and examine how relevant it is. Pythagoras was a terrible idiot. He didn't write anything down, but he did produce the first music theory."
