![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_Steve-Wrights-successor-Michael-Ball-pays-sweet-tribute-to-Radio-2-legend.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBBC Radio 2 star Michael Ball opens up on his latest health battle, the tragic loss of his mum and ending his association with the show that made him famous \u2013 as he says ‘I’m done’<\/p>\n
07:00, 28 Mar 2026Updated 07:47, 28 Mar 2026<\/p>\n
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Michael Ball(Image: bbcradio2\/Instagram)<\/p>\n
There\u2019s something in the old theatre adage that the show must go on. And when Michael Ball<\/a> was told he needed an urgent hip replacement, he ignored the advice and insisted on continuing with his production, crutches and all. Now, a year on and showing he is nothing but a trouper, the West End star will be back on stage \u2013 with a brand-new left hip \u2013 for a UK tour to celebrate the release of his album, Glow.<\/p>\n Michael had suffered pain for three years but things came to a head during an eight-week tour of Les Mis\u00e9rables in Australia<\/a> last year. The singer recalls: \u201cI went for physio and it wasn\u2019t getting any better. I had a cortisone injection, which helped, but after two days I was in agony and really limping.<\/p>\n \u201cThey took me for an MRI scan and the doctor said the ligament was completely ruptured and severed ,and I\u2019d got bone-on- bone on the joint and that my hip had to be replaced. He said, \u2018You must be in a really severe amount of pain\u2019. I went, \u2018Well, it\u2019s nice to know I\u2019m not just being a drama queen!\u2019\u201d The doctor advised Michael to fly back to England for surgery but he refused.<\/p>\n READ MORE: BBC presenter set for new police series as he admits ‘it blew my mind’<\/a>READ MORE: The Chase\u2019s Jenny Ryan admits \u2018I was furious\u2019 after explosive rant about co-stars<\/a> Michael had suffered pain for three years but things came to a head during an eight-week tour of Les Mis\u00e9rables in Australia<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t want to let people down,\u201d he explains. \u201cI decided I was just going to crack on with painkillers and try to get to the end of the tour. I had to have a crutch to get me to the side of the stage and I used the pain for my character. They cut the bits where I had to go up and down a barricade. I just got my head down and ploughed through it, but it was soul-destroying. I couldn\u2019t enjoy anything really.\u201d<\/p>\n When the tour ended, Michael returned home and had a full hip replacement.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was an utter game-changer,\u201d he says. \u201cYou realise that you\u2019ve been in chronic pain, getting worse for three years.\u201d<\/p>\n Michael, 63, who combines his singing and musical theatre career with hosting the popular Love Songs show on Radio 2, says needing surgery has prompted an overhaul of his life.<\/p>\n He reveals: \u201cI\u2019m going to the gym, oh, at least once every week. I\u2019m not wholeheartedly throwing myself into this. It\u2019s gradual, I\u2019m dipping my toe in. But I\u2019m out every day, I do long walks with the dogs<\/a> and I\u2019m eating more healthily.\u201d<\/p>\n He has always been someone who likes to see the positive side of life(Image: James Hole 2018)<\/p>\n Frank and warm and with a self-deprecating sense of humour, Michael has always been someone who likes to see the positive side of life \u2013 and this enthusiasm and drive may have helped to propel him to the top in the notoriously unstable world<\/a> of showbiz.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thing is, I\u2019ve never been cool,\u201d he muses. \u201cI\u2019ve never been trendy or the in-thing. I\u2019ve always just got on and done what I\u2019ve done and it\u2019s appealed to some people and some people can\u2019t stick it. But if you\u2019re never in fashion, you\u2019re never out of fashion. I\u2019ve just kept going and the diversification has helped.\u201d<\/p>\n Michael is certainly one of Britain\u2019s most prolific entertainers. He has starred in a host of West End productions, from Les Mis\u00e9rables to Andrew Lloyd Webber shows such as Aspects of Love, alongside Ann Crumb.<\/p>\n He achieved a No1 single with a duet of You\u2019ll Never Walk Alone alongside Second World War veteran Captain Sir Tom Moore, represented the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest and has been on Radio 2 for the past 16 years.<\/p>\n More recently he also turned his hand to writing, producing two best-selling novels<\/a>.<\/p>\n And next up is Glow, his 23rd solo studio album. It is his first-ever album of entirely self-written material. So why has he waited so long to write his own songs?<\/p>\n \u201cI wondered that as well,\u201d he admits. \u201cI think it was confidence and not understanding the art of writing. I don\u2019t read music, I don\u2019t write music, I don\u2019t play an instrument, I\u2019ve only got my brain and my mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n He met his partner, former Ready Steady Go! presenter Cathy McGowan, 37 years ago(Image: Getty Images Europe)<\/p>\n The album\u2019s first single is Vintage, a catchy tribute to the joys of growing older. He explains: \u201cWe\u2019ve got to keep challenging ourselves, we\u2019ve got to keep finding new things to be excited about. And we also need to know when to stop, when something has had its time, which has happened this year.\u201d<\/p>\n He is referring to his decision to call an end to his 40-year association with the big hit Les Mis\u00e9rables.<\/p>\n Michael first found fame when Cameron Mackintosh cast him as Marius in the original London cast in 1985. He reprised the role in 1995 and in 2019 and 2020 he returned as Inspector Javert.<\/p>\n But after last year\u2019s Australia tour, he turned down the opportunity to go to New York for a three-week run. He says: \u201cI went, \u2018no, I\u2019m done. It feels right that I stop on this. Let\u2019s not over-egg the pudding\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cSo that\u2019s me and Les Mis finished. It\u2019s the end of an era. It\u2019s a pretty big decision, but it feels right. For me it was time.\u201d<\/p>\n That new album contains some of Michael\u2019s most personal songs yet, including Remember to Remember, a poignant tribute to his 91-year-old father Tony and his mum Ruth, who died last year at the same age<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was profound and rather beautiful,\u201d Michael says. \u201cShe was fully compos mentis \u2013 it was her heart. I stayed in the hospital with her and slept there and was with her the whole time. I was holding her hand to the very end and we talked and talked until she just drifted away.<\/p>\n \u201cIt sounds weird<\/a>, but it was the perfect ending. It wasn\u2019t a tragedy. It was sad, but if you are going to go, that\u2019s the way to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Michael has also enjoyed touring and recording with opera singer Alfie Boe(Image: Dave Benett\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Michael lives in South London with his partner, former Ready Steady Go! presenter Cathy McGowan<\/a>. The pair met when she was a TV reporter and interviewed him for Aspects Of Love.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s 37 years since we met, but I always say 35 is when it became proper,\u201d he smiles. \u201cI\u2019m so immensely proud of my family. I know how lucky I am.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m in a really good place in my 60s. I love that I still have this opportunity, that my voice works and that I can still haul myself up on the stage with a new hip.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_MICHAEL_BALL_press-shot.jpg\")
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