Newly single Zoe Ball stocks up on homeware... after being spotted without her wedding ring following split from 'distraught' Norman Cook

They announced their split on Twitter at the end of September after 18 years of marriage and two children. 

And after being spotted leaving Strictly Come Dancing without her wedding ring last week, Zoe Ball was seen stocking up on homeware in London on Sunday. 

The 45-year-old presenter looked in good spirits  as she loaded up her car in the John Lewis car park.

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New beginnings? After being spotted leaving Strictly Come Dancing without her wedding ring last week, Zoe Ball was seen stocking up on homeware in London on Sunday

New beginnings? After being spotted leaving Strictly Come Dancing without her wedding ring last week, Zoe Ball was seen stocking up on homeware in London on Sunday

Appearing to go make-up free, Zoe wore a black T-shirt emblazoned with large gold lips.

Wearing her blonde hair loose, she pushed a trolley of goods to her car where she loaded up the goods. 

Despite appearing windswept, the DJ looked relaxed as she drove off following her shopping success. 

'Devastated': The 45-year-old presenter appeared in good spirits as she loaded up her car in the John Lewis car park... amid reports Norman Cook is broken-hearted

'Devastated': The 45-year-old presenter appeared in good spirits as she loaded up her car in the John Lewis car park... amid reports Norman Cook is broken-hearted

Last week Zoe was pictured driving away from ITV studios following filming on Strictly not wearing her wedding ring. 

She first ditched the ring on Monday to host Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two.

The blonde host confidently sported jewellery-free hands as her marriage collapse continued to gather pace.

Casual: Appearing to go make-up free, Zoe wore a black T-shirt emblazoned with large gold lips

Casual: Appearing to go make-up free, Zoe wore a black T-shirt emblazoned with large gold lips

Relaxed: Wearing her blonde hair loose, she pushed a trolley of goods to her car where she loaded up the goods

Relaxed: Wearing her blonde hair loose, she pushed a trolley of goods to her car where she loaded up the goods

Autumnal: Despite appearing windswept, the DJ looked relaxed as she drove off following her shopping success
Success: Her new purchase looked sizable

Autumnal: Despite appearing windswept, the DJ looked relaxed as she drove off following her shopping success

Amicable: Zoe and Norman announced their split via Twitter at the end of September

Amicable: Zoe and Norman announced their split via Twitter at the end of September

‘With great sadness we are announcing that we have separated', they tweeted

‘With great sadness we are announcing that we have separated', they tweeted

It came just a day after reports surfaced that Zoe's estranged husband, Norman Cook AKA Fatboy Slim, was distraught over the split. 

According to The Sun, the DJ - who has two children with the presenter - is hoping Zoe will change her mind about the split and reconcile. 

A source close to the couple said: 'Norman doesn’t want a divorce. He is distraught the marriage is over. Zoe has had enough but he's desperately hoping she will come back.'

The insider continued that the 53-year-old known as Fatboy Slim 'adores' Zoe - who he wed in 1999 at Babington House, Somerset - and has always but their 'family first'. 

Moving on: Zoe was pictured driving away from ITV studios in London on Friday not wearing her wedding ring

Moving on: Zoe was pictured driving away from ITV studios in London on Friday not wearing her wedding ring

'Doesn't want a divorce': It's reported Norman Cook is battling to save his relationship with Zoe Ball - with those close to him insisting 'he doesn't want a divorce' (pictured on their wedding day in 1999)

'Doesn't want a divorce': It's reported Norman Cook is battling to save his relationship with Zoe Ball - with those close to him insisting 'he doesn't want a divorce' (pictured on their wedding day in 1999)

MailOnline have contacted Cook's reps for comment. 

However, the devastating news comes after Zoe's father Johnny Ball had spoken out about the shock break-up, insisting the former couple are still on good terms.

The TV veteran said his biggest concern going forward is for his grandchildren Woody, 15, and six-year-old Nelly. 

Amicable exes: The TV star's father Johnny has  spoken out about Zoe and Cook's shock break-up, insisting the former couple (pictured in May 2015) are still on good terms

Amicable exes: The TV star's father Johnny has spoken out about Zoe and Cook's shock break-up, insisting the former couple (pictured in May 2015) are still on good terms

He told the Daily Mirror: 'There is no animosity between the two of them. You worry the kids might be disturbed by it but it the long run it will be fine.'

Johnny refuted allegations Zoe split from her husband so she could return to her party lifestyle.

He insisted that while his daughter loves the occasional night out, 'she's not doing it on a regular basis'. 

Family time: The TV veteran (pictured with Zoe in 2006) said his biggest concern going forward is for his grandchildren Woody, 15, and six-year-old Nelly

Family time: The TV veteran (pictured with Zoe in 2006) said his biggest concern going forward is for his grandchildren Woody, 15, and six-year-old Nelly

Johnny's comment come after a boyband star who famously smooched then-married Zoe in a club last year broke his silence, insisting he played no part in her subsequent split from husband Norman.

The TV presenter was caught kissing singer TayTay Starhz as they partied at London's Fabric club in December as she enjoyed a wild festive party with her BBC colleagues.

Her marriage has imploded less than a year later, and Starhz has spoken out to claim he believes he was one of several 'flings' the 45-year-old enjoyed during her  marriage to the DJ. 

Controversy: Singer Tay Tay Starhz suggested Zoe  - who was caught kissing him in a club last December - may have enjoyed several 'flings' before her marriage imploded this month

Controversy: Singer Tay Tay Starhz suggested Zoe - who was caught kissing him in a club last December - may have enjoyed several 'flings' before her marriage imploded this month

TayTay told The Sun: 'Zoe wasn’t happy in her marriage and she decided to cheat. I bet I wasn’t the first or the last.

'If that drunken kiss was one of the catalysts that ended her marriage then it’s not my issue. She was being a cheat so it’s a good thing for them both to go their separate ways.'

The member of pop group Franklin Lake added: 'I’m single and have no family responsibilities.'

The pair were covertly snapped puckering up at gay Soho nightclub Freedom last year at a Christmas wrap party for Strictly Come Dancing’s BBC2 spin-off show It Takes Two.  

Glum: Unlike smiling Zoe,  ring-free Norman looked notably glum during a recent excursion

Glum: Unlike smiling Zoe,  ring-free Norman looked notably glum during a recent excursion

It was claimed by friends of the couple that Zoe left her husband for a toyboy in his twenties because she found the superstar DJ 'boring'. 

A source said: ‘Zoe told heartbroken Norman he was boring and said that she just wanted to drink and have sex with a new younger lover.’

The couple have called the split the ‘end of our rainbow’ – a phrase that sings with romance. However, sources believe the separation is all about Miss Ball making a dignified exit.

The show must go on: Zoe has continued to workout throughout her recently announced split

The show must go on: Zoe has continued to workout throughout her recently announced split

The announcement was tweeted by both on the 25 September, reading: ‘With great sadness we are announcing that we have separated.

'After many exciting adventures together over the last 18 years we have come to the end of our rainbow.

‘We are still great friends and will continue to support each other and raise our beautiful children together, living next door but one.’

But a friend said: ‘In their most heated rows she has called him boring and said she wants more from her life. The decision came as a bolt out of the blue for Norman. He adores Zoe.’ 

She had, of course, left Cook previously, back in 2003, to set up home with another DJ before being persuaded back.

If true, the talk of a toyboy lover will surprise no one. A friend said yesterday: ‘I think she gets bored.

Day to day life: Norman was later seen leaving his gym in Hove, dressed in work out clothes

Day to day life: Norman was later seen leaving his gym in Hove, dressed in work out clothes

White wedding: Zoe married Norman  - aka DJ Fatboy Slim - in 1999

White wedding: Zoe married Norman - aka DJ Fatboy Slim - in 1999

‘She is always having flings and the marriage never really worked. I think they will be friends, though.’

Those close to the couple say Cook’s struggle with sobriety – he entered rehab in 2009 – was also a factor in the end of their marriage.

In order to support him, when he became teetotal she did, too.

He said afterwards: ‘We’ve grown closer since we’ve been sober. We’ve been to the mountain top and to the gutter and now we’re cruising for the rest of our lives.’

But, apparently, cruising lost its appeal for Miss Ball. She started drinking again in 2014, enjoying nights out with girlfriends and resuming a party lifestyle in London. 

Ladette: Ball with a cigarette and Jack Daniel's on the day of her wedding

Ladette: Ball with a cigarette and Jack Daniel's on the day of her wedding

Cook, meanwhile, favoured daily workouts in the gym, and began training for half-marathons. Increasingly, their lives went in separate directions. 

His wife has worked on the BBC2 Strictly Come Dancing spin-off show, It Takes Two, since 2011, which brings her to London five nights a week, with the inevitable temptations.

Outside Strictly season, she has a Radio 2 show and spends time with friends including former hellraiser DJ Sarah Cox in London.

She is loved by the Strictly ‘family’ who say she would ‘flirt with a chair’ but find her great company. However, it appears that her feelings for Cook haven’t endured.

The source said: ‘Zoe packed her bags and left. They have been arguing a lot recently and she decided she’d had enough.

‘All the arguments have been over the same issue – Zoe wants to go out and have fun, and Norman would rather stay at home. His sobriety was hard-won and he doesn’t want to compromise it.

‘Zoe understands that, but she is in a very different place. She loves a party and will get stuck into a night out.

‘Zoe and Norman are still talking, but the effort seems to be very much on his side. She is convinced the split will be permanent.’ 

One friend of Cooks' pointed out yesterday that one of the lessons he took out of rehab was that he should not hang out with anyone who was not sober too. Presumably, that came to include his wife.

The 45-year-old TV presenter is living with her mother, Julia, in a house next door but one to the old marital home on the esplanade at Hove in East Sussex (pictured)

The 45-year-old TV presenter is living with her mother, Julia, in a house next door but one to the old marital home on the esplanade at Hove in East Sussex (pictured)

Matters are said to have come to a head in August during a family holiday in Ibiza. 

A source is quoted as saying: ‘There was a row about her drinking. Zoe doesn’t want to be sat on the sofa of an evening having a cup of tea.’

So is this a midlife crisis for Zoe Ball – or is it simply a miracle that her marriage lasted so long?

The daughter of TV personality Johnny Ball, 78, was one of the original Nineties ‘ladettes’, famous for their wild behaviour, frequently pictured falling out of nightclubs.

She fell hard for Cook after they met in Ibiza, and they married in 1999. But in 2003, they separated briefly when she met a DJ called Dan Peppe. 

Miss Ball claimed her husband’s drinking was as much a part of the problem as her affair. She said that leaving Cook was about getting ‘away from the chaos’.

Zoe doesn’t want to be sat on the sofa of an evening having a cup of tea 

In 2009, they both became teetotal. All seemed well, but in 2014, she began partying again, her ‘ladette’ behaviour, endearing in the Nineties, now a little unsavoury for a mother in her forties.

Then, last December, came the kiss with boyband member Tay Tay Starhz, 22.

Neither she nor Cook ever commented on that episode.

Perhaps Miss Ball dropped a hint when she revealed that he wanted his gravestone to read: ‘Norman was a very patient man.’

Even patience was not enough. And now she is at the end of the rainbow – and a free agent again.

Miss Ball did not respond to requests for comment last night.

Millionaires Row, near the Hove Western Esplanade and near Brighton in East Sussex

Millionaires Row, near the Hove Western Esplanade and near Brighton in East Sussex

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