Jo Whiley breaks down in tears as she opens up on dad’s death with pal Zoe Ball in emotional podcast moment

JO Whiley broke down in tears as she opened up on her dad’s death with pal Zoe Ball in an emotional podcast moment. The radio star, 60, revealed that her father Martin had passed away in a gushing online tribute last month. Jo Whiley broke down in tears as she opened up on her dad’s death with pal Zoe Ball in an emotional podcast moment Credit: Instagram The radio star shared that her dad Martin had passed away last month Credit: Instagram/jowiley During the latest episode of the Dig It Podcast, Jo spoke about how she’s been coping since. Talking with her co-star Zoe, 55, she confessed: “People have been kind.” Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Then her emotions got the better of her and she started to cry as she confessed: “I’m going to go already!” A re-assuring Zoe replied: “It’s okay. It’s okay.” The star shared some sweet snaps of her dad after his death Credit: Instagram/jowiley Jo has been honest and open about her grief Credit: Instagram Zoe was there to comfort her co-host on the podcast Credit: Instagram Jo presents the weekday evening show on BBC Radio 2 Credit: Instagram Jo said: “Do you know what, the funniest thing is, so the day after dad died I went into town, I went to my local supermarket. “I was there, I got a tap on my shoulder and it was one of the women who works there. “And she’s got this massive bouquet of agapanthus and she went: ‘Oh this is for your dad’… because everyone knows him where we live. He was a legend. “Someone said ‘We had so many hysterical moments at the school gates and he made those years a pleasure. “We all looked forward to seeing Martin at the school gates. “And I was like ‘Oh my God’. “He just loved laughing. He loved making people laugh and to know that he had that impact on other people. “What an amazing legacy.” Last month Jo was left in tears as she recalled how she told her sister with a learning disability that their dad was dying. During the same podcast, the pair discussed Jo’s dad’s ill health following on from his Parkinson’s Disease diagnosis in 2025. TV presenter Jo opened up about they navigated explaining what was going on to her sister Frances, 53, during the last few moments of his life. Frances has has a rare chromosomal disorder called Cri du chat syndrome -and also has learning difficulties and diabetes. Opening up about how she dealt with the tough time, Jo said: “Frances has been extraordinary and she completely understands what is going on, she knows that he’s not going to get better, she just keeps saying ‘Not going to die?’ and instead of sugar coating it you just have to say ‘Well, he is not going to come home’. “And she kind of pauses and she’s like ‘Okay, where is he going?’ “And my mum is a really, really devout Christian and she says ‘Well, he’s going to Jesus and that’s where we all go.’ “Frances is like ‘Okay, how old is he?’ He’s 86, ’87?’ And we’re like ‘No, he is not going to be 87’ and she thinks about it and she’s like ‘Okay’. “She’s just been so tender with him, it’s been beautiful to watch, I’ve talked about her accepting grief before and coming to terms with things.” “And then there was this really lovely moment when she was leaving the other day, and it was when he was on the cusp of consciousness and she was going ‘Say my name, say my name!’ And he actually said the word Frances.” An emotional Zoe simply replied: “Oh wow.” Holding the tears in, Jo continued: “It was lovely. It was really good.” On July 22, Jo took to Instagram, to share a slew of sweet snaps and short clips of her dad. In the carousel of memories, Jo could be seen cuddling her dad in one heartwarming photo. Jo then penned an emotional tribute, which started with: “My lovely Dad died today. “He was the kindest man, who lived solely to make others happy. He was supremely selfless and loved nothing more than caring for others and making people laugh.” Comment now