Beloved TV and radio presenter Zoe Ball opened up about her partner, Billy Yates, who died, during an appearance on BBC Morning Live today.
During Monday’s (March 23) episode, Zoe, 55, spoke to hosts Rav Wilding and Helen Skelton about how gardening came to her later in life.
Zoe appeared on Morning Live today (Credit: BBC)
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Zoe Ball opens up about her grief after her partner died
In the interview, she revealed that spending time in the garden helped her cope with the grief of losing her ex-partner, BBC Antiques Roadshow cameraman Billy Yates, who died by suicide at the age of 40 in 2017.
“I sadly lost my partner and lots of people bought me roses because he had rose tattoos and people brought me roses in his memory,” she said, referring to Billy.
“Suddenly, I was outside tending to these beautiful plants and having that peace and calm and it had such a huge difference to me and my sort of grief journey,” Zoe continued.
“Gardening is incredible and it’s really good for calming you. It gets you outside, you’ve got the sunshine and actually getting your hands into the soil, your body comes in contact with microbes that are actually really good for you so it’s been a real comfort to me and it’s my happy place.”
She added: “You’re watching things grow and it’s so lovely. It could be fruit, it could be veg, it could be flowers. The physical benefits aside, which are obvious when you’re digging and gardening, you smile and you start that conversation of saying, I lost my partner and now you’re smiling, talking about the roses, and there’s an opportunity to remember them and smile, isn’t it? There are so many mental health benefits to gardening as well.”
‘There was so little help and support’
Months after Billy’s death, Zoe took to Instagram in a now-deleted post to honour him on World Mental Health Day.
“So many emotions today [on] #worldmentalhealthday,” she wrote.
“There was so little help and support offered to my @billwahweewoo – only after he died did I learn about some of the amazing charities and support groups out there doing such great work for #mentalhealth #depression #suicideawareness.”
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