Ball, who shot to fame as co-host of the programme with Jamie Theakston, has been working to a gruelling schedule since combining the job with presenting BBC Radio 1's breakfast show in October 1997.

"Zoe Ball will leave Live & Kicking at the end of the current run in April, but no plans for any other television work have been finalised," a BBC spokeswoman said.

Since Live & Kicking started in September 1996 Ball and Theakston have become two of the BBC's most valuable presenters, with Theakston following his colleague into working in radio instead of TV.

Jamie Theakston: Live & Kicking's co-host

It has not yet been announced whether Live & Kicking - which follows in a long tradition of Saturday morning shows starting with Swap Shop in the 1970s - will be recommissioned for a fourth series without her.

In 1997 she was chosen to co-present the Radio 1 breakfast show with Kevin Greening - despite the fact that she had little radio experience.

But the partnership was a success with the pair managing to reverse a decline in listening figures. Since last September Ball has presented the breakfast show on her own.

Success had its drawbacks though - with her having to get up early six days a week for most of the year, with the breakfast show each weekday and Live & Kicking every Saturday for eight months each year.

But Ball - the daughter of TV presenter Johnny Ball - is following a well-trodden route to greater success.