Scott Mills said he was surprised he had not been fired as a DJ for “saying the wrong thing” or having poor listener stats years before being sacked by the BBC
Scott Mills said he was surprised he hadn’t been sacked as a DJ in comments made a full 14 years before his dismissal. The former Radio 2 presenter was taken off air after presenting his final show on Tuesday, March 24.
Mills had been questioned by police in 2018 over claims of “serious sexual offences” against a teenage boy under the age of 16 between 1997 and 2000 as part of an investigation that started in 2016. The case was dropped in 2019 after it was determined there was insufficient evidence.
The Mirror revealed on Wednesday (April 1) that the BBC was forced to terminate its star radio presenter’s contract after compelling new information came to light. Yesterday (April 1), Mills issued a statement in response, stating that he had “fully cooperated and responded” to the investigation in 2018, and the “evidential threshold had not been met to bring charges”.
As the story continues to develop, past comments by Mills have resurfaced about his “plan for a quick getaway” if he were ever sacked from his role as a DJ.
He recounted in his 2012 autobiography, Love You Bye: My Story, beneath a section titled “Things I have learned”, that hospital radio “was the first and last radio station” to sack him.
In his first entry, “plan for a quick getaway”, he wrote: “You may be surprised to learn that hospital radio was the first and last radio station to give me the sack.
“There are so many stories of DJs being escorted off the premises by security for saying the wrong thing, or having a bad set of RAJAR [radio listener stats] results, it seems strange that’s not happened to me. Yet. Being fired as a DJ can be quick and it can be brutal.
“One programme director famously held a presenter meeting where he played them all their new jingles. When one DJ piped up and said, ‘My name wasn’t on there’, the programme director replied, ‘I know. See me in my office after the meeting’.”
Mills added: “I’ve never kept many personal items at work for that very reason. If I’m escorted off the premises, I want to make it quick; I’ll shove my mug and my signed photo of George Alagiah [a BBC newsreader who died in 2023] in a cardboard box and be out the door.”
In his statement, provided by Mills’ lawyers to the Mirror, he asserted that the “announcement” had led to what he described as the “publication of rumour and speculation”.
It read: “The recent announcement that I am no longer contracted to the BBC has led to the publication of rumour and speculation. In response to this the Metropolitan Police has made a statement, which I confirm relates to me.
“An allegation was made against me in 2016 of a historic sexual offence which was the subject of a police investigation in which I fully cooperated and responded to in 2018.
“As the police have stated, a file of evidence was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service, which determined that the evidential threshold had not been met to bring charges.
“Since the investigation related to an allegation that dates back nearly 30 years and the police investigation was closed 7 years ago, I hope that the public and the media will understand and respect my wish not to make any further public comment on this matter.
“I wish to thank from the bottom of my heart all those who have reached out to me with kindness, my former colleagues, and my beloved listeners, who I greatly miss.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
