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Original poster

Zoe Ball marriage - is this true?

121 replies

gosh2 · 18/01/2003 07:34

I have just seen this mornings headlines. Is this true about Zoe and Norm? Does anyone know if there is a grain of truth in there?

How old is Woody? 2ish?

This is really sad for the little boy.

OP posts:
EmmaTMG · 18/01/2003 07:45

Haven't seen the papers yet so what's going on?
I assume they are splitting up which is very sad for Woody.
I often wonder if they (famous people) are willing to work through problems in a relationship most of them seem to 'jump ship' a the earliest opportunity.
Of course this is my own opinion formed from reading gossip and scandal in all the trashiest newpapers and magazines so I've not been a fly on the wall in their houses.....Oh maybe I should keep my mouth shut and not believe every bit of trash I read.
Hope it's not true....Poor little boy.

lou33 · 18/01/2003 10:49

Found this

Lara2 · 18/01/2003 11:05

3 and a half years? Are they serious? That's not a marriage - that's going out with each other!!!!

Batters · 18/01/2003 11:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

pixiestar · 18/01/2003 20:33

How completely selfish of me - when I read the news I thought "thank god it happens to supposedly happy celebs too". My husband and I split before Christmas (his choice, not mine) and have a 3yr old and 15 month baby. Even if people do seem to have it all and look blissfully happy you just never know...

Tinker · 18/01/2003 20:48

I must admit, I can't get too worked up about this because they seemed such an insufferably (sp?) smug couple about how in love they were.

jasper · 18/01/2003 22:12

pixiestar that is exactly what I thought.
I see from another post you are getting on well and are now far happier on your own - good for you, that is excellent.
I too am divorced and always take perverse comfort when it happens to the rich and famous - I don't want ANYONE to got through it of course but it is oddly reassuring that wealth cannot protect you from that kind of thing.

megg · 19/01/2003 08:42

Tinker I know what you mean, just like a certain Kate Winslet. IMO her husband is better off without her. If she keeps contradicting herself in interviews God knows whats she's like in real life (KW).

Enid · 19/01/2003 09:30

You could tell this was on the cards just by looking at them on Shooting Stars, there was just something about them...

Original poster
gosh2 · 19/01/2003 09:37

Enid what do you mean? Because I said to DH at the time do you think Ulrik has shagged him yet??!

OP posts:
tallulah · 19/01/2003 10:02

My dh said yesterday how is it that these celebrities who live in houses big enough that they don't even have to see eachother can't manage to keep a relationship together?
We've been married 19 years (I was 20). It hasn't been plainsailing at all. We've had the usual money problems (& why don't they ever seem to end?), redundancy, probs with kids/inlaws/you name it. Neither of us expected life to be easy & we've just got on with it. Makes me mad when these people who've got everything can't just get on with it. (Celebs, not mumsnetters!)

breeze · 19/01/2003 10:08

It does seem as if then give up to easily, i mean i read today that zoe has suffered PND, thats not easy at the best of times, add to that the fact that her dh is away 4 days a week parting and things (as per article), it just seems as though they are not prepared to work at it, my dh and i got married about the same time as these and have a 3 year old son, i had PND, we found it hard for a while, but didn't give up were now stronger enjoying being together again.

hmb · 19/01/2003 10:08

Do you think that having to work through things helps to bring you together? I realise that catastrophic things can drive couples apart, but the ordinary , everyday 'troubles' like having the scrimp and save for the first morgage, or working through a childs sleeping/eating etc problems, helps to pull people together. If it all comes on a plate, and they never have to strugle, then they may bail out at the first sign of difficulty in a relationship. Plus they probably have more temptation to stray than 'ordinary'people IYSWIM.

AngieL · 19/01/2003 10:26

I think it's far too easy for celebrity couples to just walk away from their problems. Most of us don't have the luxury of being able to go and live in our 'other house' if things aren't going to well at home. We have to stay and try and sort things out.

Batters · 19/01/2003 10:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

breeze · 19/01/2003 10:56

To me after posh and becks they looked the most in love of the celebrity couples, we really do not know what happens behind close doors.

Enid · 19/01/2003 10:59

I always think that too about the 'we need more space' thing. I can't believe Norm has ever had to disappear to the shed to get some 'space', or that Zoe has ever tiptoed off to the loo for a quiet poo just to get a chance to read two pages of a magazine in peace.

Theyve got 2 houses and he spends four nights a week out clubbing for gawds sake - how much space do they need???

Enid · 19/01/2003 11:00

I think he looks older and more sorted and she still looks like a bit of a wild child who can't stand settled, motherly life.

Rhubarb · 20/01/2003 14:36

It's funny how most marriages seem to end within the first five years. It's as if once the honeymoon period is over, couples start taking each other for granted, the first major wobble comes and instead of working hard at it, there is a tendency to just throw in the towel. Which is very sad, particularly when there are children involved. Celebrities who fit this are Katy Hill and Kate Winslet. I won't count Zoe Ball as they say they are to have a 'trial separation' and might go for counselling.
Often when these short marriages end the reason cited is 'irreconcible differences' and I often wonder what that means exactly. Have they suddenly decided, after years of marriage, that they actually can't stand the sight of each other anymore? Or that actually marriage is quite boring and hard work, and they want to have fun and date again?

This is just an observation by the way, but it does seem to be a modern day trend. In my mum's generation marriages lasted at least twice as long, with the main citation for divorce being adultery. In my gran's generation marriages tended to last for life. So what has changed?

bundle · 20/01/2003 15:10

I thought it was weird when ZB announced she was giving up work at Radio 1 to start a family..all a bit too gingham curtains & picket fence for me. they met at a rave in Ibiza - so a pretty partying-hard start to their relationship, swiftly into marriage then her launching full-on into domesticity even before fertilisation...and a child under two poses the biggest strain on a marriage imaginable (unless of course you have twins, triplets...), so it's never going to be an easy ride, even if you have lots of disposable income. even if they don't go for counselling to help save their relationship, it could prove invaluable for both of them for any future ones they might have (voice of experience!)

Original poster
gosh2 · 20/01/2003 15:46

Is that true that a child under 2 poses the biggest strain? Green question here, is that because of them waking up etc?

Please let me know, I am interested in this.

OP posts:
bundle · 20/01/2003 16:13

gosh2, I'm not citing any scientific studies or anything...but there are few things that could affect a close relationship as much as a 3rd person - however wanted and yearned for - enters the home, making constant demands for food, changing nappies etc - when what you're used to is just the 2 of you going out when you please, getting pissed, having a lie-in whenever you want. the 'power' relationship between me & dh certainly changed a lot during dd's 1st year of life, not to mention my lack of sex drive due to tiredness, sore nipples etc. and I don't even think that knowing other families with small children can help you to predict how your own relationship will change. when divorce was taboo eg back in the 50's, my mum's aunt stuck with a husband who disappeared for the first 18 mths of his son's life...and lived in the same house as him for 30 yrs or so, barely uttering a word to each other and spending her little bit of cash on jumble sale clothes for her and her son..

oxocube · 20/01/2003 16:30

Rhubarb, is that ex-Blue Peter Katy Hill? Wasn't she in Hello just a few years back in a 'fairy tale wedding' shoot? Sad really, isn't it. Dh and I have our spats and there are time when we both think "what have we done with our lives" but surely thats marriage to a certain extent. We also have fab times but most of the time, its just plain normal/boring routine. I guess thats true of most marriages. (Someone please tell me it is )

breeze · 20/01/2003 16:48

yes oxocube it is, marriage has it ups and down's anyway, but when children come along it is bound to be hard adjusting at first (when i mean at first i mean a few years), i often cringe when i hear people talking about their relationship having major cracks in it and saying, oh i think we will start a family to make everything okay.

It seems to me that most of us it the same stuff most of the time, but i wouldn't be without my dh (oh course none of this is based on what i have written about him in the men annoying habits thread).

bundle · 20/01/2003 16:51

oxocube, don't you mean the Curse of Hello! wedding shoot...there are few who've escaped the clutches of the divorce courts following publication....