The radio DJ was awarded a prestigious Honorary Doctorate of Arts by Southampton Solent University in 2009, but is now set to be stripped of it as a panel meets to discuss the issue
Scott Mills had been one of the country’s best loved radio presenters(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC/Owen Scurfield)
Scott Mills is set to lose his Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Southampton Solent University.
The radio DJ was awarded the prestigious title in November 2009, but the academic institution’s Honorary Doctorate Scrutiny Panel are now preparing to meet to rule on the issue, with bosses recommending the prestigious title be taken away.
A well-placed source today told the Mirror: “The committee will meet later this month. It will be recommended that the honorary doctorate is rescinded.”
The latest blow for Mills, 53, comes after shows he presented were removed from both BBC iPlayer and Spotify and a plaque honouring him has also been removed. It was unveiled at Fleet Services on the M3 motorway in March 2016 following a campaign on his show to get the bridge named after him.
READ MORE: ‘I worked with Scott Mills – BBC sacking was driven by one thing’READ MORE: Scott Mills’ Hollyoaks role as cop warning teens to ‘stay clear of bad boys’ resurfaces
It also comes less than 24 hours after BBC boss Tim Davie said it became “very clear” the former Radio 2 breakfast had to be sacked after the corporation received “new information” about him. The outgoing director general also added Mills’ dismissal “was a real shock to the organisation”.
He added: “It was new information quite recently we received that made it very clear the decision we had to make.” Quizzed about when the BBC learned there was a problem, Davie said: “I think people need to look at the statement; we made [it] as clear as we can. We obviously have to be sensitive when you’ve got personal information, and we work carefully through it, but the statement is really clear.”
The Mirror exclusively revealed earlier this week that Mills had been sacked and told how he was questioned in 2018 over historical allegations of serious sexual offences. The investigation was closed in 2019 after the CPS deemed there was insufficient evidence to bring charges.
It came after the Met Police launched an investigation into Mills in December 2016. According to the Met, a referral was made by another force in regard to allegations of serious sexual offences against a teenage boy, which reportedly took place between 1997 and 2000.
At the time of the investigation, Mills was aged in his 40s. The first of the alleged incidents occurred when he was around 24 years old and still employed at Heart FM.
One year later, he joined the team at BBC Radio One. The Metropolitan Police has told the Mirror that the teenage boy at the centre of the investigation was under the age of 16 at the time of the alleged offences.
The Mirror previously revealed that the DJ was questioned in 2018 regarding historical allegations of serious sexual offences, but the investigation, which was launched in 2016, closed in 2019 after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) deemed there was insufficient evidence to bring forward charges.
Then, in May 2025, a former presenter made contact regarding information about alleged “inappropriate communications” involving the Mills, but didn’t receive a response. In an apology regarding this, the BBC has admitted it should have followed up on the complaint. It is not suggested that the matters are related to the same alleged victim whose 2018 report led to Mills’ police interview.
The scandal has since escalated, as it’s emerged that the BBC knew about the police investigation back in 2017. In a statement, the corporation said: “We can confirm the BBC was made aware in 2017 of the existence of an ongoing police investigation, which was subsequently closed in 2019 with no arrest or charge being made. We are doing more work to understand the detail of what was known by the BBC at this time.”
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