Mills' abrupt sacking creates another headache for the BBC

The Scott Mills allegations have put the BBC back on the front pages for all the wrong reasons. As the face of BBC Radio 2's breakfast show, he's one of the corporation's high profile names.

Which makes his abrupt departure, facing claims over his conduct, yet another BBC crisis - the last for the current director general Tim Davie, who leaves the corporation later this week. There is perhaps an irony in that.

We must make clear we don't know the details of the allegations against Scott Mills. He is the presenter of the biggest breakfast show in the country. There is no allegation of criminality.

Other scandals have been criminal. News at Ten presenter Huw Edwards and former Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood brought the BBC into serious disrepute by their actions.

Edwards was convicted of making indecent images of children.

Westwood will stand trial next year, charged with four counts of rape and nine of indecent assault. He denies the charges.

For Scott Mills, whatever he is accused of, it looks like the end of a glittering career that took him from a teen local radio star to Radio 1's voice of the charts and king of the innuendo.

Now he's out - and it happened fast. Mills has been off air since last Wednesday and was sacked by the weekend.

An organisation shouldn't necessarily be judged on the behaviour of individuals who work for it. But it should be judged on whether its culture enables inappropriated behaviour and how it responds when that behaviour is raised.

In many of the previous cases, there were claims that the BBC had allowed its talent to get away with bad behaviour. The BBC disputes that.

But the BBC's response to those scandals was also found wanting. It was too slow. Too defensive.

After the Edwards' crisis, it launched a review of its culture, professing its intention to stamp out bad behaviour.

Last September, Davie told the Culture, Media and Sport Committee "no-one is irreplaceable".

The chair of the BBC's board, Samir Shah, told MPs: "It doesn't matter how grand you are, how famous you are, how important you are. If you behave badly and abuse your power, we don't want you working for the BBC."

At the time, Davie said he couldn't rule out another scandal involving BBC faces abusing their power. "We may see more things coming out".

In his last week, another crisis has landed at the BBC. But Davie and the BBC can argue - with some justification - that the departure of Mills shows its new processes and practices are working well.

Nobody is too big to be fired, if their behaviour has compromised the BBC. That's the message Davie might like us to take away from this.

Scott Mills: From UK's youngest DJ to voice of the charts and innuendo king

Mills was born in Southampton in 1973, and started his radio career at the tender age of 16 - becoming the UKs youngest presenter on Power FM in Hampshire.

He then worked at GWR FM in Bristol and later Manchester's Key 103 before moving on to Heart FM in London in 1995.

He joined BBC Radio 1 in 1998 as the host of the early breakfast show and went on to become a household name presenting his irreverent afternoon show.

The DJ, who would go on to make the station his home for 24 years, was known as the voice of the chart show but also built up an army of fans thanks to hit games and silly features like Innuendo Bingo, Flirt Divert and the Who Game.

He and his best pal Chris Stark, who joined Radio 1 in 2012, were known for their real life, on-air bromance and for pranking each other. Like when Mills managed to persuade Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston to give his mate a nightmare interview in 2014.

"I can literally finish his sentences and he knows exactly on air when I'm having a bit of a struggle and don't know what to do next," Mills once said of his best friend.

For Innuendo Bingo - which Mills claimed Prince William was a fan of - the DJ would play out innuendos while Stark and a celebrity guest tried to keep their mouths full of water.

It saw a raft of stars, including Hugh Jackman and Daniel Radcliffe, soaked over the years and led a sopping-wet Davina McCall to exclaim: "I'm in heaven!"

Reflecting on his time at the station, Mills told Newsbeat his success and longevity as a DJ had been down to having "pretended to be on in my bedroom from the age of six".

"Just being yourself and being kind to the people around you, I think that's the key," he said.

But there were also more serious moments to contend with across his two decades at Radio 1.

From the London bombings in 2005 to the aftermath of the 2017 Manchester Arena attack and the Covid pandemic lockdown of 2020, Mills was on the airwaves taking listeners through difficult events.

During Covid, he said, it was his aim to "provide some light relief because it was a scary time".

"We just tried to provide that escapism and keep people going through it".

Prime Minister Boris Johnson being taken into intensive care after he was diagnosed with Covid was "one of the scariest" moments he had on the airwaves, he admitted.

Back in 2009, he performed a musical based on his life at the Edinburgh Festival.

Scott Mills: The Musical came about after he was forced to deny a rumour that he'd been cast as Rick Astley in a stage play about the singer.

Mills moved to Radio 2 to take over the weekday afternoon slot from Steve Wright in 2022, marking the end of an era for many listeners.

"Time actually does fly when you're having fun, and that's certainly been the case over the past 24 years at my beloved Radio 1," he said about leaving.

"The station I pretended to be on in my bedroom from the age of six. The station I told my mum I wanted to work at, but never in a million years thought I would."

Success continued in his new role on Radio 2, as at the 2024 Audio and Radio Industry Awards - also known as the Arias - Mills won gold for the best music entertainment show

The same year, he said that taking part in Celebrity Race Across the World with husband Sam Vaughan was the "ultimate test of our relationship".

The pair got married shortly after filming the BBC show.

In January 2025, Mills took over Radio 2's flagship Breakfast Show, replacing the outgoing Zoe Ball, with his tenure ultimately lasting just over a year.

With additional reporting from Paul Glynn.