BBC sacked Scott Mills from Radio 2 after reportedly learning alleged victim in police investigation was under 16

It is understood that the BBC fired Scott Mills from Radio 2 after discovering that the alleged victim in a police investigation was under 16.

The radio DJ had hosted Radio 2’s Breakfast Show since January 2025, and prior to that, he worked on BBC Radio 1 from 1998 onwards, as well as hosting that station’s Official Chart show between 2018 and 2022.

On Monday (March 31) it was confirmed that Mills had been sacked over allegations relating to his “personal conduct”, and it was subsequently reported that Mills’ sudden dismissal from the BBC related to him being probed by police in 2016 over “serious sexual offences” against a teenage boy.

Later, the BBC admitted that concerns about “inappropriate communications” involving Mills had been raised last year and said that the claims “should have been followed up” and “further questions” should have been asked.

Mills shared his first statement yesterday (Wednesday April 1) after being axed from the job, and said that he had “fully cooperated and responded” to the investigation at the time.

Now, the BBC have said that it is unclear whether managers at the time of the 2017 investigation knew that the alleged victim was under 16-years-old, and said that current managers only became aware in recent weeks and took action.

According to reports, current management were aware of a 2017 investigation – which was closed in 2019 after prosecutors decided there was insufficient evidence to bring charges – but new information came to light about the case recently, which led to Mills being sacked.

As reported by The Mirror and BBC News, the alleged incidents supposedly took place in the late ‘90s, when Mills would have been in his mid-20s, and allegedly involved a teenage boy who was under the age of 16.

In his statement, Mills did not address the details of the allegations, shed any further light on the claims, nor deny them.

“Since the investigation related to an allegation that dates back nearly 30 years and the police investigation was closed seven 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,” he said.

Mills also confirmed that he was “no longer contracted to the BBC”, and said that the statement from the Met police “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,” his statement added. “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.”

When the BBC confirmed that it knew about the 2017 investigation, it also acknowledged the mounting pressure from the public to share details of the investigation and accusations.

“We recognise there’s been much speculation in the media and online since Monday. We hope people understand that there is a limit to what we can say because we have to be mindful of the rights of those involved,” the spokesperson said.

“What we can confirm is that in recent weeks, we obtained new information relating to Scott and we spoke directly with him. As a result, the BBC acted decisively in line with our culture and values and terminated his contracts on Friday 27 March.”

They also added: “Separately, 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.”

The pressure on the BBC to take action when it comes to sexual offence claims has been heightened since the broadcaster launched a culture review last year and implemented what it describes as a “zero tolerance approach”.

After Mills was taken off air, DJ Gary Davies started the show the following day by saying he was “in for Scott Mills”, and has been covering the breakfast show since.

BBC News shares that both Davies and Radio 2’s overnight presenter OJ Borg will cover the show over the next week, and a full-time replacement for Mills has not yet been found.

Mills will also be replaced on the Race Across the World: The Detour podcast by another contestant of the BBC show. Mills and his husband Sam Vaughan won the 2024 edition of the competition.

The post BBC sacked Scott Mills from Radio 2 after reportedly learning alleged victim in police investigation was under 16 appeared first on NME.