Zoe Ball has had a turbulent last few months following the break-up of her 18 years of marriage with Norman Cook, and now the British TV presenter faces more devastation with the sudden death of her cameraman boyfriend Billy Yates earlier this week.
Zoe Ball pictured at the 2016 BAFTAs
It’s been seven months since the 46-year-old separated from DJ Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, and just as she had started managing to rebuild her life, her 40-year-old new partner is found dead in his London home. He was pronounced deceased at the scene after police were called to the house yesterday (May 4th 2017).
‘Zoe is overcome with grief’, a source told The Sun. ‘She is completely and utterly devastated. Billy had made her happy again after the most horrendous year when her marriage broke down. This was completely out of the blue. She had no feeling that this was coming and is in total shock.’
‘As far as we know this occurred at his house in London and it was friends who raised the alarm’, they continued. ‘She’s going to need a lot of time to grieve. This just feels so unfair because Zoe had finally found happiness with Billy and had so many exciting plans for their future. It’s devastating. There’s nothing else other than devastation today.’
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police revealed that police arrived at the Lower Richmond Road property at around 7pm where they found Billy, after which the London Ambulance Service attended. They add that his death is not being treated as suspicious.
More: Zoe Ball and Norman Cook split after 18 years of marriage
The heart-broken Zoe shared her grief on Instagram simply with an image of a pink flower and the caption: ‘My sweet love X’. She has since been inundated with supportive messages from fans.
Zoe and her ex-husband revealed they had broken up in September, posting the message: ‘After many exciting adventures together over the last 18 years we have come to the end of our rainbow.’