'I should have just gone to the pub': Zoe Ball reveals her 'most awkward interview ever' - saying pop diva left her waiting three hours and 'clearly didn't want to be there'
Radio 2 Breakfast Show host Zoe Ball has revealed the most awkward interview of her decades-long broadcasting career - and Madonna is the artist responsible.
The DJ has spoken out in recent weeks how she didn't enjoy interviewing the global pop star, currently touring, during their meeting back in the late nineties.
Speaking on her show this morning, Ball, 52, told listeners after playing the star's 1998 Ray of Light hit that, with hindsight, she probably should have just gone to the pub after being made to wait by the pop icon.
Describing how she was sent to a glitzy London hotel for the interview, along with fellow DJ Kevin Greening, she said: '[We] waited in a hotel room for three hours for Madonna to turn up.
![BBC Radio 2's breakfast host Zoe Ball told listeners Madonna was the most awkward interview of her career, offering up a slew of 'No, no, no, no, no' answers to her questions](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/08/16/77563355-12725867-image-a-13_1699460677194.jpg)
BBC Radio 2's breakfast host Zoe Ball told listeners Madonna was the most awkward interview of her career, offering up a slew of 'No, no, no, no, no' answers to her questions
'She didn't really want to be there. I think it was possibly the most awkward interview I've ever done in my life and actually the only one that I think I should have just got up and gone "Ah, don't worry about it, love. I'll go down the pub'".
Last month, the star revealed that her questions in the actual interview had gone down like lead balloons too.
She told news presenter Tina Daheley in October: 'Oh, Madonna...trickiest interview I've ever had to do in my life, back in the 1990s.
'She'd be like, "No, no, no, no, no," to all the answers and then the last question she gave me something.
![Ball told radio listeners that she interviewed the star in the late 90s - and was kept waiting for three hours before the star arrived](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/08/16/77563357-12725867-image-a-14_1699460680696.jpg)
Ball told radio listeners that she interviewed the star in the late 90s - and was kept waiting for three hours before the star arrived
'I think we were talking about her album Ray Of Light and then the last question she was like, "Oh, I'm gonna have a chat," and then suddenly her people went "Time up'''.
In the late 90s, Ball was at the helm of the Radio 1 breakfast show, with access to some of the world's biggest stars.
The 52-year-old was branded a 'ladette' alongside other female celebs including Sara Cox, 48. However, she recently revealed she now prefers a quiet night in.
She told The Mirror in the late summer she now pops into parties only briefly before heading home to put her feet up.
'I do the French exit now. I go early. Everyone sees you, and you get to see your friends. Then I do a 'Woohoo' and they don't ever remember you weren't there for a bit.
![The TV and Radio star, pictured in 1997, was at the helm of the Radio 1 breakfast show when she interviewed Madonna in a London hotel room](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/08/16/75001149-12725867-Home_to_bed_She_said_how_she_now_pops_into_parties_only_briefly_-a-16_1699461100073.jpg)
The TV and Radio star, pictured in 1997, was at the helm of the Radio 1 breakfast show when she interviewed Madonna in a London hotel room
![Home comforts: Zoe Ball, 52, has revealed how she has left her wild partying days behind her for quiet nights at home watching Gardners' World after beating her battle with booze](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/08/16/75000677-12725867-Home_comforts_Zoe_Ball_52_has_revealed_how_she_has_left_her_wild-a-15_1699461076771.jpg)
Home comforts: Zoe Ball, 52, has revealed how she has left her wild partying days behind her for quiet nights at home watching Gardners' World after beating her battle with booze
Adding: 'I am back in bed with some crumpets and watching Gardeners' World by 10 most nights'.
Reflecting on her past, the mother of two, who shares son Woody, 23, and daughter Nell, 13, with ex-husband Norman Cook said she was glad to have her crazy 'tales to tell'.
'Woody's quite impressed by it. Nell's not impressed by it yet, hopefully one say she will be'.
The TV personality previously spoke of how she she finally won her booze battle with a stint in rehab during a 2020 appearance on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.
She became the first woman to host Radio 2's Breakfast Show when she took over from Chris Evans last year, but reveals she can't help worrying over the audience figures after the ratings fell by nearly a million listeners.
Asked if the job was high-pressured, Zoe says: 'You kind of pretend it's not but the listening figures come in and your face is on the tin.
'So yes, I do take it completely to heart.'