Radio

Who is ex-BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show presenter Scott Mills?

SCOTT Mills has been a staple on our screens and radios for decades, bringing audiences the breakfast shows on Radio 1 and 2 over the years.

But on March 30, 2026, the Dj was axed by the BBC over reported allegations about his “personal conduct”.

Scott began presenting Radio 1 in 1998

The BBC said: “While we do not comment on matters relating to individuals, we can confirm Scott Mills is no longer contracted to work with the BBC.”

As reported by the Mirror, Lorna Clarke, Director of Music at the BBC, confirmed the sacking in a statement to staff.

It read: “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.”

Who is Scott Mills?

Scott Mills is a radio presenter from Eastleigh, Hampshire.

He began his career at the age of 16 as a host of his local radio station Power FM.

He was given the graveyard slot (1am-6am) on the station and became the youngest permanent presenter on mainstream commercial radio.

Scott later went on to work at GWR FM Bristol, Piccadilly Key 103 in Manchester and Heart 106.2 in London before becoming a national radio star.

Scott joined Radio 1 in 1998 as a presenter for the early breakfast show between 4am-7am.

In July 2005 he shifted to an early-evening weekday slot while covering for Sara Cox who was on maternity leave.

Sara decided to not return so the slot became The Scott Mills’ Show from 1pm-4pm, Monday to Friday.

When did Scott Mills join BBC Radio 2?

It was announced on July 1, 2022 that Scott was set to join Radio 2.

His show, which ran from 2-4pm, began on 31 October of that year.

The show replaced Steve Wright in the Afternoon which ended in September 2022.

He later took over the Radio 2 breakfast show on January 27, 2025.

When he announced he was leaving Radio 1, Scott said: “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.

“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.”

Scott has commentated on Eurovision

What else has Scott Mills presented?

Scott has also appeared on a number of TV Shows.

From 2006-2007 he appeared as a reporter Paul Lang in the medical soap Casualty.

He has also been a contestant on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Supermarket Sweep, Mastermind and Most Haunted.

In 2009 Scott Mills: The Musical played for three nights at the Edinburgh Fringe festival.

In 2010 he did another fringe show The Bjorn Identity which was The Bourne Identity to the music of ABBA.

He’s also commentated on Eurovision since 2011.

Is Scott Mills married?

Scott is married to his husband Sam Vaughan.

The pair started dating in 2017 before getting engaged in 2021.

in June 2024, the couple tied the knot in a lavish ceremony in Barcelona.

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Beloved BBC station chief dies aged 45 as Vernon Kay stops Radio 2 show to pay tribute to ‘larger-than-life’ colleague

VERNON Kay stopped his BBC Radio 2 show to announce the death of his beloved colleague, station chief Ian Deeley.

The radio star paid tribute to his “larger than life” station manager Ian, 45, who passed away unexpectedly.

Beloved BBC station chief Ian Deeley died unexpectedly aged 45Credit: Linkedin
BBC radio star Vernon Kay offered condolences to his colleague’s familyCredit: Alamy

Ian’s cause of death remains unknown, with Vernon saying “the BBC family were devastated to hear that our brilliant studio manager, Ian Deeley.”

Vernon, 51, hailed his colleague’s passion for radio, saying Ian loved his job and had worked on most BBC radio stations.

The presenter went on to say: “Even though he was a relatively young chap, Ian had a long and illustrious career, during which he pretty much worked on every BBC radio station. 

“His time at the BBC started with news shifts followed by production work and more recently, Ian was working with our colleagues on the outside broadcast team, or ‘the Broadside Outcasts’ as he jokingly called them.

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“With the OB team, Ian worked on all manner of big radio stuff, including pop festivals, BBC Proms and numerous royal events.

“The one that stands out for us and our little team is the one where Ian personally made sure that our show from the beaches of Normandy a few years ago went seamlessly – and it did. 

“Ian was our lead engineer on our D-Day [80th] celebrations and he was so dedicated that he went on a [reconnaissance trip] over to France in his own time, just to make sure everything was up to his incredible high standard.”

Vernon added: “Ian loved working with us here at Radio 2 and I know one of his career highlights was working with our friend, Steve Wright, he was thrilled to be able to be a part of the big show and as ‘one of the top operatives’ as Steve called him.

“Steve always said, ‘Ian, keep it cranked’ and he did.”

The radio star would go on to offer condolences to Ian’s mum, partner and brother on behalf of the Radio 2 staff.

Later in the show, Vernon thanked his listeners after they sent in some words of condolence.  

Paying tribute to Ian himself Vernon said: “As an engineer, there were few better but there are also so many things we can say about Ian, the person.

“He was an exuberant, larger-than-life character who was always enthusiastic and brought a smile to everyone’s faces.”

He went on to say that he and his colleagues would miss Ian’s “quick wit.”

Hailing the work Ian and other team members do Vernon added: “As you can imagine at Radio 2, it’s not just the names in the Radio Times who do all the work. 

“We do very little, we just talk when we put up the fader, I’ll be honest with you, myself and every on-air name included.

“It’s the massive team behind Radio 2 that make this network so successful.”

Vernon offered a personal tribute to the station managerCredit: Getty

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What happens to KNX and other stations when CBS News Radio goes away?

The announcement of the end of CBS News Radio last Friday was met with elegiac tributes to the service that built the foundation of William Paley’s company nearly 100 years ago and brought the heroic work of journalists such as Edward R. Murrow to millions of listeners.

But for the 700 affiliates carrying CBS News Radio, the concerns are more practical as they are faced with finding new national programming that will replace it. CBS Radio News will go silent on May 22.

The shutdown of the historic radio division was part of a division-wide staff cut that will affect 6% of the CBS News workforce. Affiliate stations learned of the decision only minutes before it was released to the press.

The local all-news radio stations carrying the service had to post messages on social media to assure listeners that they were not disappearing — only the national newscasts that were provided by CBS.

KNX, the all-news station in Los Angeles that has carried CBS programming since 1936, posted a lengthy segment on the impending closure and explained how “KNX News is not going anywhere.”

KNX was owned by CBS until 2017. The New York-based Audacy, under its previous name Entercom, acquired the CBS radio stations in 2017. KNX and the other Audacy news stations such as WBBM in Chicago, KCBS in San Francisco and WWJ in Detroit remained CBS affiliates, carrying the hourly CBS newscasts.

The Audacy all-news outlets, which reach around 9 million listeners a month, provided about one-third of U.S. coverage for CBS News Radio, the most of any station group carrying the service.

Audacy said it will find a replacement for CBS News Radio to provide national and international coverage, noting that the mission of its all-news stations will not be affected.

“The vast majority of our news and talk programming remains original and locally-produced, and we are beginning conversations with other national news providers to ensure our listeners continue to have access to world-class programming they value and trust.” said Chris Oliviero, chief business officer for Audacy.

Educating the listening public and advertisers that the stations will be fundamentally the same once CBS is gone will require some effort. KNX and the other Audacy all-news stations have a long association with CBS, which launched their formats starting in the late 1960s.

Along with the hourly newscasts, the stations carried “The Osgood Files,” a massively popular commentary segment hosted by the late former “CBS Sunday Morning” host Charles Osgood, for 46 years until 2017. The jingles and sounders used to identify CBS News network programming heard on the stations for decades have also been part of the listening experience.

Among the possible replacements for CBS News Radio is ABC News Audio, which is the largest network radio news service in the U.S. with 1,500 affiliates. The Audacy stations currently use ABC News content outside of its hourly newscasts.

KFI-AM currently carries the ABC News Audio newscasts in Los Angeles. Exclusivity of the ABC News Audio affiliations are determined on a market-by-market basis, according to a representative at the network.

Fox News Media, the home of the conservative-leaning cable channel, also offers a radio service with hourly newscasts and dedicated reporters, which airs on several hundred stations (the company does not supply a specific number).

While Fox News Radio delivers straight reporting, the service is likely to find a home on some of the conservative talk stations that are currently CBS News affiliates.

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CBS News shuts down radio unit amid division-wide cuts

In a stunning move, CBS News is shutting down its radio division, getting out of the medium where its storied history began nearly 100 years ago.

CBS News Radio will stop offering its service to its 700 affiliate stations on May 22.

“While this was a necessary decision, it was not an easy one,” the company said in a memo obtained by The Times. “A shift in radio station programming strategies, coupled with challenging economic realities, has made it impossible to continue the service.”

CBS sold its own radio stations in 2017, but continued to offer hourly network newscasts to affiliate stations, including “World News Roundup,” which has been on the air since 1938. Legendary CBS News journalist Edward R. Murrow delivered his first report on the program.

The news of the shutdown comes as dozens of CBS News employees are learning Friday if they have a future at the struggling news division.

A morning email from CBS News President Tom Cibrowski and editor-in-chief Bari Weiss that was obtained by The Times said staff affected by a new round of job reductions will be notified by the end of the day. About 6% of the 1,000 CBS News employees will be affected.

The cuts had been hinted at earlier this year by Weiss, when she said her business goal for the division is to expand its reach on digital platforms. Weiss and Cibrowski raised the same issue in their note informing employees of the cuts.

“It’s no secret that the news business is changing radically, and that we need to change along with it,” they wrote. “New audiences are burgeoning in new places and we are pressing forward with ambitious plans to grow and invest so that we can be there for them.”

CBS News has been dealing with a decline in revenue for its TV programs, as viewers have gravitated toward streaming platforms and social media.

The network’s daily programs “CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil” and “CBS Mornings,” both run well behind their competition in the ratings. It does have two strong weekend franchises in “60 Minutes” and “CBS Sunday Morning.”

CBS News is expected to be under the same corporate ownership as CNN once parent company Paramount closes its $111 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. The two divisions are likely to share news gathering costs, which could lead to the closure of bureaus and a reduction of personnel.

CBS News lost about 100 employees in October as part of a massive round of cuts enacted at Paramount after the company was acquired by Skydance Media.

Weiss had joined CBS News earlier that month and was not directly involved in the staff reductions. She is said to be more personally involved in the cuts occurring Friday.

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Absolute Radio DJ reveals his devastated parents have ‘lost everything’ in scam using fake Martin Lewis ad

ABSOLUTE Radio DJ Andy Bush has revealed heartless scammers have stolen his elderly parents’ life savings.

In total, the devastated couple, both 78, were swindled out of £16,000 in an elaborate scheme that used Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis‘s trusted name to entice them.

Absolute Radio’s Andy Bush has revealed his parents have been scammed by fraudstersCredit: Alamy
The scam used a fake ad that used Martin Lewis’s trusted reputationCredit: ITV

A ‘broker’ going by the name of ‘John’ gained Andy’s dad’s trust after he clicked into an online link promising to maximise his savings. In reality, Good Morning Britain star Martin had no affiliation with the advert at all.

Andy, who hosts Hometime with Bush & Richie, told The Sun: “They’re really humiliated.

“My dad’s an ex-computer programmer, systems analyst. So he feels someone like him, who’s had a job like that, shouldn’t be falling for a scam like this. So they feel very, very humiliated.

“I feel like a lot of their kind of plans and dreams have kind of gone up in smoke a little bit because that little nest egg that they had to go and do nice retirement stuff is now suddenly completely gone.”

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Andy’s dad has memory issues, which his son believes made him more susceptible to the scam. Neither Andy, nor his brother, had any idea his parents were moving around large sums of money, and he believes they were coerced by ‘John’ not to tell anyone.

Once his dad had clicked the dodgy link, a portal opened to ‘John’ who was then on the phone to them “non-stop”.

Andy likened it to a romance scam and said his parents told him they would speak to ‘John’ on the phone two or three times a day.

“Even when it all came to light that it was a scam, my mum still wouldn’t believe that John, lovely John, would do this to them. So, they really bought into him as a person,” said Andy.

‘John’ set up a Revolut account on Andy’s parents behalf and began transferring large chunks of money from their TSB savings account.

He coached them on what to say to TSB agents when they queried the transfers — though Andy is upset that the bank didn’t do more to clamp down on the out of character money movements.

“Every time they transferred a chunk of £5,000, £6,000 or whatever, TSB would phone up and go, ‘just making sure you’re not transferring this to whatever’. And they would say, ‘no, no, it’s for this, that or whatever’,” he said.

‘John’ then instructed them to put an app on each of their phones, which allowed him to have full access to all their details and to see what they were doing on their devices.

He also installed a fake crypto exchange that showed their money rising at an impressive rate when in reality it had all but disappeared.

Eventually, Andy found out something was amiss when his mum asked if she could borrow £4,000 in order to deposit it into her account to pass an ‘anti-money laundering check’.

Alarm bells immediately rang and Andy asked her to show him the email from ‘John’. Upon seeing it, he said he knew “straight away” that it was fraudulent.

In the meantime, ‘John’ had arranged a £4,000 loan with M&S Bank, which led to Andy’s parents having to cancel their cards after multiple payments began to be made on them.

Andy’s intervention didn’t immediately put an end to the scamming.

DJ Andy, seen here with Michael Fassbender, said his parents feel humiliatedCredit: Alamy

Two days later, his parents received an email from a fake cryptocurrency loss recovery company that claimed it could recover their stolen money.

The fresh scam asked for forms to be submitted and a £3,000 payment paid. Andy said he believed the original scammers were behind it.

Even though, his parents’ phones have been wiped, he said there are still concerns the scammers have access.

Andy and his parents have now instructed CEL Solicitors who specialise in recouping money lost to fraud and have contacted the police.

CEL told him that they deal with 500 such cases a month and some £500m is stolen from people each year in total.

He said: “I’ve had so many messages from people who have not just had their parents scammed like this, but a woman in her 30s was scammed out of money when her baby was seven days old because she wasn’t concentrating properly and just pressed the button. You know, young people, old people.

“My mum and dad don’t know who to trust now.

“It’s brought up some really horrible conversations. My mum and dad have always been very outgoing and doing different things, and they’ve always got plans and all that kind of stuff. Now they have to run pretty much everything past me and my brother just to double-check that they’re not being scammed again.”

HOW TO NOT GET CAUGHT OUT BY A SCAM

Follow these tips by Virgin Money to avoid being caught in a trap…

Protect your details

Never disclose security details, such as your PIN, full banking password or one-time passcode to anyone, even bank staff.

A genuine bank or organisation will never ask you for these on the phone.

Don’t assume an email, text or phone call is authentic.

Just because someone knows your basic details (such as your name and address or even your mother’s maiden name), it doesn’t mean they are genuine.

Remember, criminals can also make any telephone number appear on your phone handset so even if you recognise it or it seems authentic, do not use it as verification they are genuine.

Don’t be rushed

A genuine organisation won’t mind waiting. Under no circumstances would a genuine bank or some other trusted organisation force you to make a financial transaction on the spot.

Always remember: Stop. Think. Check.

Listen to your instincts

You know if something doesn’t feel right.

Criminals may lull you into a false sense of security when you are out and about or rely on your defences being down when you’re in the comfort of your own home.

Stay in control

Don’t panic and make a decision you’ll regret. Have the confidence to refuse unusual requests for personal or financial information.

It’s easy to feel embarrassed when faced with unexpected or complex conversations. But it’s okay to stop the discussion if you do not feel in control of it.

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Fearne Cotton says she felt ‘shamed, stared at’ and ignored by Radio 1 colleagues after paedo ex Ian Watkins’ arrest

FEARNE Cotton has revealed she felt “shamed, stared at and ignored” by colleagues after the arrest of her former boyfriend Ian Watkins.

While she does not mention him by name, the former Radio 1 star discusses a “life-altering” news story connected to her in her new book.

In her new book, Fearne has admitted she felt shunned by colleagues at Radio 1 after the Lostprophets singer’s arrestCredit: Getty
Fearne dated Ian Watkins for around a year in the mid 2000s, prior to his conviction for child sex offencesCredit: Rex

In Likeable, released this week, the former BBC Radio 1 host hints at the difficult period she endured after the Lostprophets frontman admitted to 13 child sex offences.

The now 44-year-old recalls being live on air when “a horrible news story that doesn’t involve me yet has a tenuous and life-altering link to me will be broadcast on my own radio show again that day”.

Fearne briefly dated Lostprophets frontman Watkins in the mid-2000s after the pair met at the Kerrang! Awards.

The relationship is believed to have lasted around a year, and the presenter largely kept it out of the spotlight at the time.

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His offending only came to light years after the pair had split.

Watkins was arrested in 2012 over child sex offences and convicted the following year, during which time Fearne was hosting BBC Radio 1’s weekday mid-morning show.

The radio star wrote: “I feel simultaneously glared at, stared at, yet utterly ignored by those in the office.

“Are they all talking about me behind my back? Or am I a narcissist for thinking that?”

Ian Watkins later pleaded guilty to offences including the attempted rape of a child and was jailed for 29 years in 2013.

In quotes obtained by The Mirror, Fearne writes that she struggled with intense shame and nausea as she tried to keep broadcasting.

Fearne was presenting on Radio One at the time of Ian’s arrestCredit: BBC
Fearne has hinted she struggled to work following the news of her ex’s arrestCredit: Getty

Trying to push through, she explained that she “shoved down the anger, the rage, the sorrow and tears” in order to keep going, describing the period as one of “depression and a heaviness”.

However, she said she has since worked through those feelings in therapy and realised the shame was never hers to carry.

Instead, she wrote that it “belongs to others” and mostly the men from her past.

The mother-of-two added: “Men who have shamed me, treated me badly and left me lumbered with it.”

Watkins died from blood loss at HMP Wakefield in October after being stabbed in the neck.

West Yorkshire Police later charged two men, aged 25 and 43, with murder. Their trial is set to begin in May.

Shortly after the news of his death, Fearne shared a reflective post on Instagram in which she spoke about struggling with shame and sleep.

“Here are four things that I learned this week,” she said in the video.

“The first one was from the Happy Place podcast where I spoke to Charlie Mackesy who talked a lot about shame which I greatly appreciated.

“And the one reminder that I had from that episode was that so many of us feel shame but we assume it’s just us because that is what shame does.

“It wants you to believe that it’s just you but it’s not…”

She added in the caption: “Four life lessons from this week. I’m not sleeping well.

My brain is a bit wobbly at the moment but I’m grasping the lessons life is chucking my way.”

Insiders previously told the Mail the presenter is “haunted” and “very, very humiliated” each time his name is mentioned.

Ian Watkins died after being attacked in prisonCredit: AFP

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