The BBC has sacked Radio 2 breakfast show host Scott Mills over an unspecified failure of 'personal conduct', with the decision announced on Monday. Mills, 53, had been presenting the show since January 2025 and attracted 6.5 million weekly listeners according to the latest ratings. The abrupt dismissal comes in the final days of Tim Davie's tenure as director general, with Davie stepping down on 2 April.
Mills told listeners on Tuesday last week that he would be back on Wednesday, but instead Gary Davies covered for him for the rest of the week. There was no prior gossip about any investigation, making the sudden sacking truly shocking. BBC departures of this nature are rare; presenters are usually suspended pending investigation, as with Wynne Evans and Kaye Adams whose contracts were recently cancelled over disputed misconduct claims.
The speed of the decision suggests the BBC legal department took a rapid view on terminating Mills's contract, worth about £355,000, making him the 11th best-recompensed on-air star. The latest pay disclosures due in July are expected to place him in the BBC half-millionaire club. Unlike the Huw Edwards case, which involved lengthy suspension and police investigations, Mills's case appears to have been resolved quickly.
Davie, who thanked neighbours for helping him evade media during past scandals, may be relieved to leave the mess for his successors. Interim DG Rhodri Talfan Davies takes over from Friday until 18 May, when former Google boss Matt Brittin assumes the role permanently. The timing of the announcement may aim to isolate this as the last controversy of the Davie regime.
Mills had seemed set to become a freelance 'lifer' at the BBC, having started on Radio 1 breakfast in 1998 and moved through various slots before landing the Radio 2 breakfast show. He also presented Top of the Pops and the National Lottery draw and competed on Strictly Come Dancing. His 53rd birthday on Saturday is unlikely to have been happy.
