BBC confirms it knew about Scott Mills allegations almost a year ago – as it is claimed Radio 2 star ‘was accused of sex offences against boy under 16’

The BBC has admitted it knew about the allegations against Scott Mills almost a year before firing the star.

The 53-year-old Radio 2 DJ was surprisingly sacked by the Corporation on Monday, six days after he was taken off air following what appeared to be his final breakfast show.

Last night the Daily Mirror linked the decision to fire Mills to a 2018 police investigation into ‘serious sexual offenses’ committed against a teenage boy between 1997 and 2000. The case was dropped nearly seven years ago due to lack of evidence.

The Daily Mail revealed today that the child in question was ‘under 16’ at the time of the alleged crimes and was revealed decades later.

In another humiliation for the BBC, it emerged that a former presenter had contacted the broadcaster about alleged ‘inappropriate communication’ regarding Mills, the Telegraph newspaper reported.

Freelance journalist Anna Brees told the Company in May 2025 that she received details of the allegations from a source — although they were not necessarily related to the same victim Mills was questioned about in 2018.

He asked whether the BBC had ‘knowledge of or involvement in any relevant matters’ and whether any ‘formal or informal complaints’ had been made to the BBC about Mills ‘regarding safety, inappropriate behavior or harassment’.

Ms. Brees, who hosted news programs for the broadcaster from 2003 to 2011, also asked whether the company had investigated the star DJ’s conduct.

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

The Radio 2 DJ, pictured, was surprisingly made redundant by the Corporation on Monday, six days after being taken off air following what appeared to be his final breakfast show.

But he claims he was rejected on all counts and received no response from the BBC.

On Tuesday, the broadcaster admitted that the information it provided ‘needs to be followed up and we need to ask more questions’.

A spokesperson for the BBC said: ‘We received a press inquiry with limited information in 2025.

‘This should have been followed up and we should have asked more questions. We apologize for this and will investigate why this did not happen.

‘More generally, we would always encourage anyone with concerns or information to contact us about this.’

Ms Brees said: ‘It was a reliable source and I was concerned so I decided to contact the BBC to make them aware of the situation and see if they had come back with anything. ‘I didn’t get a response.’

The claim that the company was too slow to sack one of its top stars has echoes of its slow approach to vetting the likes of Jimmy Savile, Huw Edwards and Gregg Wallace.

The BBC refuses to say why he was sacked other than it was related to his ‘personal behaviour’. The broadcaster is now under pressure to reveal what they knew about Mills’ incident with police and when they knew it.

It has been claimed that the teenager who accused Mills of serious sexual offenses in the 1990s is now under the age of 16.

The broadcaster, who was 24 at the time of the allegations, was later questioned under caution by police in 2018.

Scotland Yard confirmed detectives sent a file to the Crown Prosecution Service but rejected the case due to lack of evidence. The police investigation was closed in 2019.

The Daily Mail can also reveal the complainant may have been inspired to speak out again this year due to Huw Edwards’ new documentary series.

Two sources said it was claimed at the BBC that the unnamed man may have gone to the company because of the massive publicity surrounding Martin Clunes, who starred in Power: The Downfall Of Huw Edwards.

Former police officer and now investigative journalist Mark Williams-Thomas said police contacts confirmed to him that Mills was interviewed by the Met as part of a side investigation of Operation Yewtree in 2018.

Mr Williams-Thomas helped expose Jimmy Savile and his work led to police investigations into Savile and others, including Rolf Harris.

‘Police were inundated with post-Savile allegations and allowed high-profile stars to be named as a result,’ he told the Daily Mail today [by complainants]One of them was Scott Mills. He was not charged but was allowed to continue working.’

Mills joined BBC Radio 1 in 1998 from Heart 106.2, where he started in 1995, after working in local radio in Hampshire, Bristol and Manchester. He left the BBC yesterday after 28 years.

A source claimed managing director Tony Hall was unaware of the allegations during the police investigation.

A BBC executive in London told the Daily Mail today that there was a genuine belief among bosses at the corporation that the timing of Mills’ sacking and the broadcast of the Edwards drama was ‘no coincidence’.

‘The Huw Edwards drama showed that there could be a reckoning,’ they said.

Another senior BBC broadcaster added that the claim that the Edwards drama was a ‘spark’ was circulating at Broadcasting House.

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.

The BBC declined to comment on why they were not suspended or sacked at the time and why they were sacked almost a decade later.

Mills was photographed having a drunken night out with Alan Carr in 2009

Mills married her long-time partner Sam Vaughan in a celebrity wedding in Barcelona in 2024. The couple was photographed at an awards ceremony in February this year.

Mills was in the picture early in his career. He joined the BBC in 1998 after starting his career in local radio at his home in Hampshire.

Another senior BBC broadcaster said the company was in “complete shock” after Mills was sacked.

An email from BBC music director Lorna Clarke on Monday morning revealed there were “audible gasps” from staff.

Many stars who spent time with him described him as ‘kind and generous’ and said their friends were ‘devastated’ for him.

He was also described as ‘hugely popular’ within the company by a radio colleague.

“It doesn’t suit the BBC to move so quickly,” one well-known broadcaster told the Daily Mail.

Another source claimed wild rumors were circulating at Broadcasting House about the reason for his sacking.

“No suspension period or prolonged investigation is not a good sign,” another insider said.