Zoe Ball has revealed that her 16-year-old daughter Nelly has ADHD – and is the third member of their family to have been diagnosed.
Radio DJ Zoe, 55, and her son Woody, 25, also have the behavioural condition defined by inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.
Zoe shares her two children with her ex husband DJ Fatboy Slim, real name Norman Cook.
In an interview with The Mirror, Zoe said that Nell is now on medication which helps her at school.
She said: ‘I always bang on about having ADHD. It’s been by learning about their situation and how they cope with things, deal with things, that I’ve learned about my own.
‘I can see why Nell might live in chaos and her clothes are everywhere. But she started doing a thing now where every Sunday night, she will give herself a couple of hours – tidy her room, get her stuff ready for school, put her things away, have a nice shower.
Zoe Ball has revealed that her 16-year-old daughter Nelly has ADHD – and is the third member of their family to have been diagnosed
Radio DJ Zoe, 55, and her son Woody, 25, also have the behavioural condition defined by inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness
‘And I’ve loved seeing her find this for herself. I’m like, ‘yes.’ You kind of realise in the chaos, you appreciate how much a bit of order really helps. That’s what I’ve tried to do in my life.’
Zoe first revealed her own ADHD diagnosis in December 2023.
Back in 2024 Zoe’s son Woody revealed that ADHD has helped him become a better DJ, following his Glastonbury debut the previous month.
He said the condition has now become his ‘unique selling point’ as he moves around so much behind the decks, he stands out from other DJs.
Woody told the Daily Mail: ‘Having ADHD has contributed to my style. I’ve always jumped around a lot as a person’.
‘I was contemplating calling myself Monkey Man as a DJ, by me letting go, it allows the audience to feel it too’.
He explained: ‘I’ve become at one with the DJ and the hype man and this inbetween phase, ADHD has really helped with that’.
‘As a DJ you’re a performer, you’re not just there to stand there and I think there’s definitely part of my set where the crowd moves because I do.’
Woody started DJing during lockdown in bid to entertain himself and his friends when nightclubs were shut.
L-R: Woody Cook, Fatboy Slim, Nelly Cook and Zoe Ball
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EXCLUSIVE Woody Cook claims ADHD has helped him become a better DJ and is now his ‘unique selling point’ – following Glastonbury debut
Despite his dad’s success, he claims to have never been given a lesson and is self-taught.
Instead Fatboy Slim, 62, who’s had three Top 10 albums and seven Top 10 singles during his illustrious career, has given him plenty of life advice, rather than technical, as he embarks on a career in music.
Woody said: ‘He never really gave me any lessons, I didn’t touch decks growing up, he gave me more instructional stuff’.
‘I would ask him questions like, ‘why did you do that in a set?’ ‘Why did you do this?’
‘And he would say ‘you will never be the best DJ out there, but you can be the most unique?’ On a list of ten people, why would they pick you? What would make you unique to a promoter or booker?’.
‘So he gave me a lot of life lessons rather than actual hands-on stuff.’
Woody added: ‘It was just my own curiosity. I was like, ‘I’ll teach myself.’
Zoe rang in her daughter Nelly’s sweet 16th birthday in January with a series of adorable throwbacks including ex-husband.
The radio presenter and the DJ split in 2016 after 18 years of marriage but have remained close friends and co-parents to their children.
Uploading a montage of snaps from over the years to Instagram, Zoe wrote: ‘Happy Sweet 16 BG love you Nelly Noodle.’
Photos included a baby Nelly on the beach in their hometown of Brighton with her dad as well as other sweet family snaps.
Sharing his own tribute, her brother Woody posted a carousel of photos of them both together.
He captioned his update: ‘Happy Birthday to my Favourite Sister I’ll ever have!!!!!!!’
Zoe and Norman reunited over the festive break and joked that they were ‘putting the funk into dysfunctional’ while celebrating Christmas with their children.
