Michael Ball: ‘I live near David Gandy – when he walks down the road, nobody’s looking at me’

The singer and Radio 2 DJ on unlikely rugby viewing, his reality TV obsession and being greeted like a returning hero by his dogs

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How do famous names spend their precious downtime? In our weekly My Saturday column, celebrities reveal their weekend virtues and vices. This week: Michael Ball
I down a glass of water and go out with the boys, Danny and Wilbur, my Tibetan terriers. You get to know everyone through dog walking – I get the local gossip.
I head down to the food market [in Barnes] and plan what we’re going to eat over the weekend. I’ll buy meat at the Ginger Pig and a nice smorgasbord of treats. I shop locally, though we’ve got M&S for panicky moments. I get no hassle when I’m out and about. David Gandy lives round here and, believe me, if David Gandy is walking down the road, nobody’s looking at me.
I’ll cook a proper brunch of bacon, eggs, and tomatoes from the garden. Cath [Ball’s partner Cathy McGowan] and I have been in this house for 21 years and it’s beautiful, we’ve really worked on it and it’s got a gorgeous little garden, a real haven.
I’ve never been into sport and, if you’d told me five years ago I would be tuning in to watch Women’s Rugby Sevens from some remote place in the world, I’d have said ‘You are insane’, but here we are. My granddaughter Gracie was in the Olympics.
Cath and I sat in the Stade de France watching her run on to the pitch and Cath just burst into tears. My God, it was so overwhelming. It’s not an easy journey, the sacrifices, the work she’s put in. She is one of the fastest female rugby players in the world. It’s so not my world, and I much prefer that. I wouldn’t want her or her brother to go into my business.
We take Danny and Wilbur for their big walk. When I’m away from home, I miss my dogs possibly even more than Cath. That’s not true, but my heart aches for my boys. When I’ve been gone for a while and I walk through the door, the greeting is just fabulous – though sometimes I go to the loo and come out and the greeting is much the same. My new album Together at Home, with Alfie Boe, has the theme of home and what it means to us. We’re also going on an arena tour next March.
There’s nothing better than cooking dinner, a glass of wine, lighting the fire and crap telly. I’ve become fixated on the new All Creatures Great and Small, and I’m obsessed with Married At First Sight Australia.
Saturday is never a late one – unless I’m doing a show, in which case I’m not in bed until 3am.
Usually I’ll sleep well but when I’m coming up to an opening night, my brain starts going, so I listen to an audiobook to turn it off. I don’t have to prepare for [Radio 2 show] Sunday Love Songs because I like it to be spontaneous. I loved Steve Wright, but I wanted to bring something different, to talk to people.
There are stories that break my heart – one man diagnosed with terminal cancer wanted the world to know what his wife had done for him. Another lady had a nasty divorce and is now marrying in her 70s. It gives people hope. 
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