Within days of a complaint being made against him, Scott Mills was shown the door by BBC bosses.
The radio DJ has been sacked by the broadcaster over allegations relating to his ‘personal conduct’. Mills hosted his final Radio 2 Breakfast show last Tuesday just hours after he faced executives in a ‘tense’ meeting. When the shock announcement was made to Mills’ colleagues, gasps were heard across Broadcasting House.
On Monday, just hours after his exit was confirmed, The Mirror revealed that the Beeb’s decision to cut ties with Mills relates to a 2016 police investigation into “serious sexual offences” against a teenage boy. And today, the Met police has said that the boy was under the age of 16.
READ MORE: Scott Mills sacked by BBC Radio 2 as relationship complaint exposedREAD MORE: Scott Mills sacked: Police say boy at centre of investigation was under 16
The Metropolitan Police said a man, who was in his 40s at the time of the interview in 2016, was investigated over allegations reported to have happened between 1997 and 2000 – a time when Mills was working at BBC Radio 1. Today the BBC said it understands that director general at the time, Tony Hall, was not aware of the allegations. The investigation was dropped in 2019 after the CPS deemed there was insufficient evidence to bring charges.
Sources say Mills has gone to ground since the decision was made, with friends even struggling to contact him. Here we look at exactly how his ‘tense’ meeting with BBC bosses unfolded, according to someone close to the star…
‘Tense’ talks
Sources say that it took the BBC just five days to sack Mills after a complaint was received.
It’s understood that the radio host was hauled into crisis talks last Monday over the allegations. He was taken off air the following day and his contract was axed at the weekend.
Sharing a glimpse of Mills’ nightmare behind the scenes, a pal told The Mirror that he is devastated by the decision to sack him after what’s been called “tense” talks with BBC bosses. “The show was his life and he is facing oblivion,” says a pal.
His close friends and acquaintances have been left totally blindsided by events of the last few days. They had no idea he’d been sacked but they were also totally in the dark about the police investigation back in 2016. They are really worried about him and he is not taking any calls at the moment.
Another source close to the BBC told us they acted “quickly and decisively” last week following a complaint. The BBC is understood to have updated the complainant following Mills’ sacking, and are in contact with them.
Final show
Mills told Radio 2 listeners he should “probably go” just hours before being sacked.
On March 24, the day after his tough chat with bosses, Scott presented his last breakfast show. In what would become his final farewell to listeners, the 53-year-old said: “I’m getting everything mixed up today,” adding: “I should probably go, I’ll try again tomorrow.”
The last reference suggests that he either still believed he’d be back on the airwaves after the crisis meeting, or just wanted to keep it business as usual for listeners.
While handing over to Vernon Kay, Scott added: “Meatloaf and Cher, today on Radio 2, Jo Whiley, Sara Cox at 4[pm] tea time, Trevor Nelson through the afternoon, Jeremy Vine at 12[pm] and now, Vernon Kay. What a song to finish on.”
Scott went on to comment: “I’m back tomorrow.” He also joked about being “oiled up and hairless” during a chat with Vernon, as they discussed transforming into Meatloaf and Cher.
But he wouldn’t be back at all. Mills was abruptly taken off air and replaced by colleague Gary Davies without warning.
Brutal email
The Mirror understands that Scott was informed at the weekend that his contract with the corporation had been terminated.
The Mirror broke news of the star presenter’s sacking on Monday morning, shortly before BBC staff were informed by email. Until that moment, his team had no idea what was coming and had been working on the Monday breakfast show as normal.
Staff were left “shell-shocked” by Mills’ departure, and there were “audible” gasps in the newsroom. Director of Music, Lorna Clarke, sent a blistering email to Scott’s colleagues informing them he wouldn’t be returning to work. In the email, she said: “I wanted to personally let you know that Scott Mills has left the Breakfast show, and the BBC. I know that this news will be sudden and unexpected, and therefore must come as a shock.
“Not least as so many of us have worked with Scott over a great many years, across a broad range of our programmes on R1, 5Live, R2 and TV. I felt it was important to share this news with you at the earliest opportunity.
“Of course, it will also come as a shock to our audience and loyal breakfast show listeners too. I will update everyone with more information on plans for the show when I’m able to. While I appreciate many of you will have questions, I hope you can understand that I am not going to be saying anything further now.”
Meanwhile, the BBC said in a statement: “While we do not comment on matters relating to individuals, we can confirm Scott Mills is no longer contracted to work with the BBC.”
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “In December 2016, the Met began an investigation following a referral from another police force. The investigation related to allegations of serious sexual offences against a teenage boy. These were reported to have taken place between 1997 and 2000.
“As part of these enquiries, a man who was in his 40s at the time of the interview, was questioned by police under caution in July 2018. A full file of evidence was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service, who determined the evidential threshold had not been met to bring charges. Following this advice, the investigation was closed in May 2019.”
Shock reaction
Today Mills’ BBC colleagues have reacted by sharing their shock at Mills’ dismissal. Speaking on This Morning, Dermot O’Leary who hosts a weekly Saturday morning show, said: BBC Radio 2 is “a family” and everyone was taken aback.
He said: “As part of the Radio 2 family – and it is a family, everyone gets together, it’s a lovely place to work, it’s very collegiate. This came as a complete shock to everybody, it came from nowhere.”
Jeremy Vine broke the news on air to listeners at 12pm on Monday. He admitted was “taken aback” by the news, saying: “Obviously, I was taken aback by that opening story to the news. I had not heard anything about it until 17 minutes ago, when it was on the BBC website, and I only had the information that was given to you in the bulletin, I have nothing more, that it was allegations about Scott Mills’ personal conduct, which have led to him being sacked. I have no more than that. Alright, on to today’s show.”
Today, he labelled Mills’ sacking as unfair as he insisted there’s been ‘no crime’. Vine added that he felt bosses had sacked his fellow presenter due to regrets over their handling of the behaviour of Huw Edwards.
He said on his show: “The whole point is there wasn’t a crime, and that’s where this gets difficult, the Met have been over it and there is no crime. We are dealing with something we are calling misbehaviour.’
“There is a thought here that what the BBC has done has sacked Huw Edwards, they wish they got in earlier with Huw and they decided to treat Scott how they wish they’d treated Huw. Which would be a bit unfair would it not?”
An exec at the Beeb said today that there’s a view amongst bosses at the company that the timing of Mills’ exit and the release of the Channel 5 Huw Edwards drama was ‘not a coincidence’.
“The Huw Edwards drama showed that there could be a reckoning,” they told the Mail. Another BBC source said that the claim that the Edwards show was the ‘spark’ is floating around the newsroom. The corporation did not respond to the claims.
He has been described by another radio colleague as ‘hugely popular’ within the institution. “It is not like the BBC to act so fast,” an unamed broadcaster told the newspaper.
Outgoing director-general Tim Davie will leave the BBC this week. He will be replaced by interim director-general, Rhodri Talfan Davies, on April 2, before former Google boss Matt Brittin becomes permanent director-general on May 18.
‘Gone to ground’
Mills is said to have ‘shut down’ since the allegations surfaced and he was booted from his ‘dream’ job. Even friends are struggling to check in.
Since the news broke, a handful of stars have been put in the running to take over, with Gary Davies currently standing in for Mills. But it is weekend host Rylan who has seen the biggest move with the bookies, with odds tumbling from 12/1 to 4/1 due to a rapid increase in support for him to takeover now.
But it’s not going to be plain sailing for Rylan as he now faces stiff competition. Vernon Kay has now overtaken Davies, with 2/1, with Sara Cox sitting at 3/1 and Clara Amdo at 4/1. Elsewhere, Claudia Winkleman has seen her odds go from 20/1 to 5/1, with fans wanting her to return.
Trevor Nelson is facing odds of 6/1, Emma Willis is at 7/1, Gaby Roslin and OJ Borg are also at 7/1; meanwhile, Ferne Cotton is at 10/1, with Davina McCall at 16/1. Nicola McGeady of Ladbrokes said: “It is all change in the race for the Breakfast Show hotseat. Rylan Clark is gathering serious momentum with punters, while Vernon Kay has officially knocked Gary Davies off the top spot. The market is moving fast as the search for Scott Mills’ successor heats up.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
