Scott Mills ‘probed by police in 2016 over serious sex offences against teenage boy’ as crisis leaves BBC in ‘absolute chaos’

The BBC was plunged into a new scandal yesterday with the sensational sacking of one of its most high-profile radio stars.

Radio 2 Breakfast Show host Scott Mills was taken off air last Tuesday and had his contract terminated for ‘personal behaviour’.

The allegations against Mills, 53, are thought to date back a decade to his time at Radio 1, with reports suggesting they involve a ‘historic relationship’.

The departure of Mills, one of the company’s highest-paid stars earning up to £360,000 a year, caused ‘absolute chaos’ at Radio 2; Insiders told the Daily Mail that colleagues were ‘in shock’ and bosses were scrambling to find a replacement.

Last night the Daily Mirror reported that the decision to fire Mills followed a police investigation into ‘serious sexual offenses’ against a teenage boy in 2016.

He claimed that the DJ was questioned at the time but the case was dropped due to lack of evidence. The newspaper claimed that his dismissal was related to the same person.

Mills is the latest in a string of stars to lose their jobs at the scandal-plagued BBC. His sacking follows the departures of newsreader Huw Edwards as well as MasterChef duo Gregg Wallace and John Torode in the past two years.

The irregular dismissal, announced in a short press release yesterday morning, is believed to be one of the final actions of chief executive Tim Davie, who wants to ‘clear the decks’ before leaving his post on Thursday.

An insider said Mr Davie, who also resigned after it emerged that footage of a speech by US President Donald Trump had been edited and spliced ​​into an episode of Panorama, wanted a final roll of the dice.

The irregular dismissal, announced in a short press release yesterday morning, is believed to be one of the final actions of chief executive Tim Davie, who was photographed in November.

Mills takes over the flagship breakfast show from Zoe Ball in 2025. The allegations against Mills are thought to date back a decade at Radio 1.

But it will leave interim chief executive Rhodri Talfan Davies and his permanent replacement, Matt Brittin, with a major headache as the race to find Mills’ replacement continues or they risk losing listeners.

The biggest breakfast show in the country now has a weekly audience of 6.5 million after listeners returned after being lost under Mills’ predecessor Zoe Ball.

Mills’ team are said to have sought legal advice following his sacking.

Last night a Metropolitan Police spokesman said: ‘In December 2016 the Met launched an investigation following guidance from another police force. The investigation concerned allegations of serious sexual offenses against a teenage boy. These reportedly occurred between 1997 and 2000.

‘As part of these investigations, a man who was in his 40s at the time of the interview was interviewed under caution by police in July 2018.

‘A full dossier of evidence was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service, who determined that the evidentiary threshold for bringing charges was not met. Following this recommendation, the investigation was closed in May 2019.’

A representative for Mills declined to comment when reached by the Daily Mail.

In an internal memo to staff yesterday morning, the company’s music director Lorna Clarke said: ‘I wanted to personally inform you that Scott Mills has left the Breakfast Show and the BBC. I know that this news will be sudden and unexpected and therefore will create a shock effect.

‘At least many of us have worked with Scott over many years on a wide range of programs across Radio 1, Radio 5 Live, Radio 2 and TV. ‘I felt it was important to share this news with you at the first opportunity.’

He said it would “come as a shock to our audience and loyal breakfast show listeners too” as he promised to give everyone “more information about the show plans when available”.

He added: ‘While I appreciate that many of you will have questions, I hope you can understand that I will not say anything further at this time.’

In a statement, the BBC said: ‘We do not comment on matters relating to individuals but we can confirm that Scott Mills is no longer contracted to the BBC.’

This month’s photo of Mills. DJ’s dismissal shocked colleagues and listeners

Mills married her long-time partner Sam Vaughan in a celebrity wedding in Barcelona in 2024. The couple was photographed with their dogs.

Mills’ final show was broadcast last Tuesday, following his presentation on the BBC’s Comic Relief program last Friday, where he finished by telling the audience: ‘See you tomorrow’. After just six days, Mills left the job.

‘People are walking around crying,’ said a BBC employee. ‘The BBC took this very seriously.’

Mills took up the acclaimed Radio 2 Breakfast Show role, taking over from Ms Ball in January last year.

But it was on the freer Radio 1, aimed at a younger demographic, where Mills made his name rising through the ranks from the early breakfast show in 1998 to the afternoon show vacated by Sara Cox in 2004.

Renamed The Scott Mills Show, the program ran from 2004 until 2022, when Mills jumped to Radio 2 and replaced Steve Wright in the afternoon slot.

Mills, now married to her long-term partner Sam Vaughan, 36, enjoyed a hedonistic lifestyle during her 24-year tenure at Radio 1.

A BBC source told the Mail of the allegation against Mills: “This is about the culture at Radio 1, not Radio 2.” Radio 2 presenter Jeremy Vine said he was unaware of his colleague’s departure until minutes before he went on air yesterday.

Following news of the sacking at 12pm, he told listeners on his own programme: “I had heard nothing about it until it was published on the BBC website 17 minutes ago and I only took the information given to you in the bulletin.”

‘I have nothing else [to say than] ‘Allegations about Scott Mills’ personal conduct led to his dismissal.’

BBC news correspondent Sima Kotecha described how ‘gasp filled the newsroom’ when the news was announced to staff.

He said: ‘This is mega news. We heard gasps in the newsroom when people realized he had been sacked… The fact that bosses have to do this means something potentially huge must have happened to cause one of their big names to leave. As I said, this is a huge name at the BBC.’

Southampton-born Mills struggled with alcohol and suffered from anxiety and depression during his two decades at Radio 1. Her spiral was triggered by the death of her boyfriend from a drug overdose in 2001.

He credited BBC bosses for standing by him and even admitted that he should have been ‘sacked’ for his behaviour.

‘I was 26 years old [when he died] and we spent every minute together, it was truly awful,” he said in 2012.

‘[I’d] wake up at 2.30am, do the show, come home and go back to sleep. Then I would wake up in the evening and drink two bottles of wine or a bottle of spirits in front of the television. “It was a way to escape.”

‘Even I could have fired me,’ said Mills, adding: ‘Thank God for Radio 1.’

Mills has found stability in recent years with her husband Sam, whom she met in 2016. The couple appeared together on BBC reality show Celebrity Race Across the World in 2024, which they won. They got married in Barcelona shortly after filming. Mills was one of the BBC’s Eurovision commentators and in 2022 she raised £1 million for the charity Children in Need by spending 24 hours on a treadmill.

Mills, filmed in 2016. She took on the role of the acclaimed Radio 2 Breakfast Show, taking over from Ms Ball in January last year.

The popular presenter, who has suffered from chronic anxiety, depression and panic attacks throughout her life, explained how she went off the rails when her boyfriend Mitch died of a drug overdose in 2001.

The former Radio 2 DJ admitted he has turned to TV projects outside his ‘natural habitat’ in recent years, including Bake Off, pictured.

Mills took a photo with Emily Atack at her home in 2012. He talked about how much he regretted participating in some of the programs he attended.

Mills’ departure will come in the same week as Mr Davie’s departure from the Corporation, with Mr Davies, the BBC’s international director, taking over as interim chief.

Mr Brittin, a former Google executive who spent 18 years at the tech giant, will take over the role on May 18. The beleaguered BBC is still dealing with the fallout from the Huw Edwards scandal, thanks to Channel 5’s latest docu-drama starring Martin Clunes, with a renewed focus on the convicted sex offender.

Edwards was suspended from the Company on full pay while an internal investigation was conducted and prior to his termination.

He was later given a six-month suspended sentence for possessing child abuse images.