Zoe Ball sparks concern amid her sudden absence from her Radio 2 show as it’s revealed she won’t return for weeks

Zoe Ball caused concern after her sudden absence from her radio show on Monday morning.

Listeners expecting the 53-year-old presenter were instead greeted by Scott Mills, who confirmed Zoe would be away for a “couple of weeks” and shared that the team were sending Zoe “their love”.

Stand-in host Scott, 51, said at the start of the show at 6.30am: ‘Good morning. You weren’t expecting me, were you? Welcome to Monday. I’m Scott Mills.’

He continued about the sudden change: ‘If you set your alarm for 6.30 every morning and Zoe normally comes, don’t panic. You haven’t overslept. I’m here to do the Breakfast Show, don’t panic. It’s early. You’re not late for work. It’s Monday, August 12th.’

Later in the show, Scott addressed Zoe’s absence again, telling fans who had just tuned in: “If you tuned in this morning, it’s Scott Mills who’s replacing Zoe for the next few weeks. Sending you all my love Zo, as does the team.”

Listeners tuning in for the 53-year-old presenter were instead greeted by Scott Mills, who confirmed that Zoe would be away for a “couple of weeks” and shared that the team were sending “their love” to Zoe

A BBC representative confirmed to MailOnline that Zoe is ‘taking some time off’ and will not return until September.

Zoe’s absence comes after she pulled out of Friday’s show at the last minute. The night before, she had told fans she would be on the air, saying: “See you at sunrise.”

Instead, Gaby Roslin was called in at the last minute, with neither she nor Scott able to provide a reason for Zoe’s absence.

Zoe had only been back on the air for a week after a long break over the summer. When she returned to work, the radio star told her fans: ‘What have I missed?’

This came after Zoe paid an emotional tribute to her late mother Julia Peckham in May, following her funeral after she died from pancreatic cancer.

The radio presenter posted a number of family photos on her Instagram account and told her followers it had been a tough but ‘perfect’ day.

“Yesterday we said goodbye to our sweet mom, grandma J. It was a perfect day and she would have loved it ,” she wrote.

‘Forever in our hearts Mama, thank you for your magic and love. We miss you so much but hold each other tight

Stand-in host Scott Mills, 51, said at the start of the show at 6.30am: ‘Good morning. You weren’t expecting me, were you? Welcome to Monday. It’s Scott Mills’

Zoe’s absence comes after she pulled out of Friday’s show at the last minute, having let her fans know the night before that she would be appearing on the radio, telling them: ‘See you at sunrise’

Instead, Gaby Roslin was called in at the last minute, with neither she nor Scott giving a reason why Zoe was missing.

Zoe then thanked her two children Woody, 23, and Nelly, 14, for their eulogy, and the rest of her family and fans for their support.

‘Thank you to everyone who has sent kind messages, cards and flowers. Much love to the many of you who have shared with us your own loss and grief, to those battling cancer or caring for loved ones affected by cancer.

‘We wish you all lots of strength and love. And of course the humor you need to keep going. Sometimes it’s so hard to be brave.’

‘A huge thank you to @stewart_the_celebrant what a superstar he is. To Karen @choirandko to @nelly_co0k @woodycook Chris, Derek for courageously sharing the most amazing, moving eulogies for mum.’

It comes after Zoe paid an emotional tribute to her late mother Julia Peckham in May, after hosting her funeral following her death from pancreatic cancer.

The radio presenter took to her Instagram account to share family photos and told her followers it had been a tough but ‘perfect’ day

Zoe vowed to raise money for cancer research in the future after explaining how Julia died just 12 weeks after her diagnosis in February.

‘My amazing brother Jamie @tikikontiki and I will be raising money for the wonderful caring people at @stpeterstjames and @pancreaticcanuk in the future. Let’s hope that more can be done to help those diagnosed in the future. Our mum was diagnosed in February and we lost her at just 12 weeks.

The carousel of family photos consisted of photos from Julia’s childhood and of Zoe as a small child with her mother. There were also more recent photos showing Julia as ‘Grandma J’.

Zoe announced in March that her mother had cancer.