Zoe Ball victim of fire scare as firefighters rush to star's home after leaving candle lit overnight
Zoe Ball has the fire brigade called to her home
PA
Firefighters had to rush to Zoe Ball's home in Sussex on Monday after the radio and TV presenter had left a candle burning.
The 52-year-old opened up about the horrifying incident at the top of her BBC Radio 2 Breakfast show on Tuesday in which she admitted she narrowly avoided a "catastrophe" due to the quick thinking of neighbours and the fire service.
She told listeners and her co-hosts: "Yesterday, something that happened to me for the first time was that the fire brigade went to my house.
"I had left a candle burning in the lounge," Ball admitted. "I was so obsessed with The Matrix when I watched it on Sunday night and the fact that I had made a cake, I had gone to bed and I hadn't blown out one of the candles.
"It was left smouldering in the lounge and at 9.25am my smoke alarms went off and thank goodness! Otherwise, I might have gone home to no home!"
Ball's co-presenters could be heard gasping in shock before Ball continued: "Thank you to my neighbour Abs and my gorgeous Em who called the fire brigade.
Zoe Ball left a candle burning in her home overnight
PA
"And I'd like to give a big shout-out to Duncan and the Uckfield boys, Joe and Cameron and Steve, who went around, put out the candle, and stopped my house from burning down. They're absolute legends."
"My goodness!" Ball's co-stars exclaimed before she revealed she'd been to pay a visit to the firefighters who tended to the incident.
She continued: "I popped in to take them some cake yesterday to say thank you very much, and they were going through maneuvers... why are you laughing?"
Ball's co-star could be heard giggling before she joked: "Is this what happens, you came back from the weekend and you were like, 'I baked a cake for the first time! I cooked! And then I nearly burnt the house down.'"
Ball let out a giggle before she delved further into the details of the incident: "There was this awful moment where I was like, 'I'm here and that's down there and how do I get there and what do I do?'
"And Abs went round and she was like, 'Yes, there's flames coming out of the candle,' and you're thinking, 'Don't go in there, Abs! Don't go in there!'
"But anyway, when I went to see the boys [firefighters] yesterday...I talked to Duncan who was in charge and he was saying, 'Please tell your listeners, it is quite important, that your local fire and rescue service can provide you with free smoke alarms.'
"So if in your house you like me burn candles, or anything else, perhaps someone smokes or whatever, you've got to get your smoke alarms!
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Zoe Ball revealed the fire was put out before it could do any severe damage
PA
"Your local fire service can give you free ones and they can also give you lots of advice - and do check the batteries! If they didn't work it could've been an absolute catastrophe."
Luckily for Ball, the flames failed to engulf her Sussex home, which she bought in 2020 for an estimated £1.5 million.