Zoe Ball has made her first public appearance since the death of her beloved boyfriend Billy Yates at the wedding of Strictly Come Dancing professional Ian Waite

Despite going through probably the hardest 12 months of her life, Zoe Ball has been determined to put on a brave face recently.

Since losing her beloved partner Billy Yates after his devastating suicide, Zoe has understandably kept a low profile.

But she stepped back out into the public eye recently to celebrate the wedding of her close friend and Strictly colleague Ian Waite.

Professional dancer Ian, who was Zoe's partner when she took part in the main show in 2005, married his airline pilot fiancé Drew Merriman in the Sculpture Gallery at Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire.

Zoe joined fellow Strictly stars Anton Du Beke, Craig Revel-Horwood and Natalie Lowe for the ceremony, and gave her first interview to Hello! Magazine since Billy's death.

She gushed over her Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two co-star, giving her seal of approval to Ian's new husband.

She said: "We all cried - I'm so happy to see him so happy."

Revealing an inside-joke that she and the other women on the show were Ian's work "wives", she continued: "Drew had a lot to live up to really, all us 'wives' had to approve - and we wholeheartedly do.

"Ian is the best. I'm obviously completely in love with him - I was tempted to say, 'It should have been me!'"

WATCH: Zoe Ball's Birthday on It Takes Two - featuring Il Divo and Ian Waite

This comes after Zoe last week posted a photo of her last holiday with Billy before his death.

Sharing an intimate photo of her and Billy's feet touching in front of a sunset, Zoe wrote: ""Miss my Happy Feets Boy so. Big time loving you always @billwahweewoo 3 months today.

"Ever grateful for all the love & support ✨✨✨ #littlesteps #healing #acceptance #love #understanding #recovery #."

She ended the post with a truly heartbreaking line: "Wish I had a time machine."

Zoe cheered on her friend Lucy Hamilton, a close friend of Billy's, who did a charity bike ride through Surrey in memory of Billy over the weekend.

She raised over £2,000 for The Maytree Respite Centre, a place for people to go who are considering suicide.

Are you a fan of Zoe's? Let us know over on Facebook and Twitter.

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