Sara Cox brushes off claims she’s ‘drifted apart’ from her pal Zoe Ball

Sara Cox has addressed claims she ‘drifted apart’ from her partying pal Zoe Ball after years of friendship.

The BBC Radio 2 presenter, 45, explained that since having children and moving further apart they’re not as close as they once were, but they still text regularly.

Sara and Zoe were regulars on the party scene throughout the 1990s, but it was reported last year they were ‘no longer close’ after she missed out on hosting the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show.

Sara told The Mirror she and Zoe are still in regular contact, but they struggle to see each other as they live so far away from each other.

She said: ‘I always have to be careful what I say about Zoe because it always sounds like we’ve drifted apart, big drama, high hell and it’s just not.

‘We’ve always supported each other, we just live quite far away from each other.

‘We were friends and were out partying and then, you know, kids and life kind of happened. But it’s true that we text each other quite a lot now.’

Still pals: The presenter explained that since having children and moving further apart they’re not as close as they once were, but they still text regularly (pictured with Zoe in 2005)

Sara added that she and Zoe also chat on Zoom with their Radio 2 colleagues every Tuesday.

Last year it was reported that Sara was ‘no longer close’ to Zoe after missing out on hosting the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show.

Sara, 44, was said to be expecting the gig after having previously stood in for Chris over the years – and was left ‘completely gutted’ after the announcement that Zoe had bagged the honour, according to The Sun.

Kept away: Sara said she and Zoe are still in regular contact, but they struggle to see each other as they live so far away from each other

However, despite the speculation, a BBC source told MailOnline: ‘This is a purely speculative piece.’ 

The claims of a fading friendship came in complete contrast to Zoe recently mentioning that they have always supported each other in their careers.

Zoe told the Radio Times: ‘We spoke a lot during the whole process. We’re old buddies and we’ve always been really supportive of each other. Sometimes she gets jobs I’ve wanted. We always talk. It worked out.’

Sara and Zoe were very close during the 1990s, holidayed together and were bridesmaids at each other’s weddings, however, Sara admitted they had drifted apart and lost touch.

In 2016, Sara told The Mirror: ‘We’re not ”not friends” but we just lost touch. It’s a bit sad, but she’s down in Brighton and has a family of her own too so it’s not as easy to stay in touch, although our paths do sometimes cross.’

Fallen out? Sara and Zoe were regulars on the party scene throughout the 1990s, but it was reported last year they were ‘no longer close’ (pictured in 2001)