Scott Mills’ ultimate test in his relationship to husband Sam Vaughan – as he’s sacked from BBC over ‘historic romance from a decade ago’

Scott Mills says taking part in Celebrity Race Around the World with husband Sam Vaughan was ‘the ultimate test of our relationship’.

It was confirmed on Monday that the 53-year-old star of Radio 2 had been sacked by the BBC following a complaint about his personal behaviour. Hours later, it was claimed the firing was related to a ‘historic male relationship dating back over a decade’.

But Scott may be facing the biggest test of his marriage after he was suddenly sacked from his £355,000-a-year job.

Scott and producer Sam had appeared on Celebrity Race Around the World, a BBC program in 2024 that sees stars take part in a grueling cross-country trip. They got married just two months after filming wrapped.

The couple, who have been in a relationship since 2017, said they want the competition to ‘make us stronger’ so that they can weather any storm.

Scott explained why he signed up for the programme: ‘Before you get married, everyone says the holiday test that if you go on holiday with someone you know you can be with them.

‘This is like a thousand times that. I have no doubt that Sam is the right person for me, but I think there will be times when it will be stressful.

‘And I think I expect that, I don’t know, but I expect there to be big highs and probably big bottoms. So if we can get through this, we can basically get through anything. I have no doubt that we will, but that’s one of the reasons why I want to do it. I also want to put my phone away for a while. ‘I can’t do this again.’

Sam added: ‘When Scott and I were first asked to be in the show, it was a no-brainer; This was an opportunity to take a break from the world and see places you’ve never seen before.

‘You’ll probably go to places you wouldn’t rather go, you probably won’t go to places where you look at a map and say, ‘Let’s go here.’

‘Scott loves travel magazines so Scott will plan our holidays, he loves going to new places but this is going somewhere we’ll probably never go again. And that’s just seeing parts of the world together.

‘Obviously we’re getting married this year, it’s a year of great challenges for us: this marriage. So it’s like doing everything at the same time and finishing it all.

‘Even if we don’t win and we get to the finish line, at least we got to the finish line together. And the decisions we make are together. So, I think fighting this fight in the year we get married is to make our relationship even stronger. Hopefully.’

The duo went on to win the second series after struggling with the language barrier and the heat.

It was confirmed on Monday that the Radio 2 star, 53, had been sacked by the BBC following a complaint about his personal behaviour.

They raced approximately 12,500 km (7,800 mi) across South America, starting in Belém, Brazil, and finishing at Osorno Volcano in Frutillar, Chile.

Despite starting the final leg in third place, Scott and Sam were the first to reach the finish line. They beat Kola Bokinni and Mary Ellen Moriarty by 2 hours and 20 minutes.

They married two months later in Barcelona in front of celebrity guests including Zoe Ball, Rylan Clark, Jordan North, Calvin Harris and wife Vick Hope, with former co-host Chris Stark taking over as Master of Ceremonies.

Scott was taken off the air last week while bosses examined the claim before announcing his dismissal on Monday, just six days after he disappeared from Radio 2.

The BBC refused to comment on his personal behaviour, but the Daily Mirror said his shock exit ‘historical male relationship more than ten years ago’.

The presenter was last on air on Tuesday and was replaced by experienced DJ Gary Davies from Wednesday.

In a statement today, the BBC said: ‘Whilst we do not comment on individual matters, we can confirm that Scott Mills is no longer contracted to the BBC.’

It was claimed that the DJ was informed that he had been fired over the weekend.

Scott, who is paid between £355,000 and £359,999 a year from the BBC, takes over the Radio 2 breakfast show from Zoe Ball in 2025.