Timeline of Scott Mills scandal after it’s revealed the BBC knew about investigation

In a shock sacking, Radio 2 presenter Scott Mills was dropped from the BBC earlier this week over ‘personal conduct’.

The long-time BBC personality, 53, was questioned by police in 2018 over allegations of serious sexual offences involving a teenage boy under 16.

Mills had been one of the highest-paid presenters at the BBC, with a salary of £315,000 to £319,999 in 2025 after replacing Zoe Ball on the Breakfast Show.

Alongside presenting the popular radio show, weeks before he had been announced as the host for the Race Across The World spin-off podcast.

It has since been revealed that the BBC made aware of the police investigation, which related to offences between 1997 and 2000, in 2017.

Here’s everything we know so far about the Scott Mills scandal, in timeline order.

1997- 2000

Currently, there is not much information about the circumstances surrounding the alleged sexual offences against a boy under 16, except that they occurred between 1997 and 2000.

In October 1998, Mills first joined BBC Radio 1 to present the early breakfast show between 4am and 7am.

Before this, he had been on local radio stations including Hampshire’s Power FM, QWR FM Bristol, and Heart in London.

December 2016

By December 2016, Mills had climbed to a weekday afternoon slot on Radio 1, which was subsequently renamed The Scott Mills Show.

The Metropolitan Police launch a probe into allegations against Mills following a referral from another police force.

In a statement released to The Mirror, the force said: ‘The investigation related to allegations of serious sexual offences against a teenage boy.

‘A full file of evidence was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service.’

July 2018

A year and seven months into the investigation, Mills was questioned by the police under caution over historical sexual offences against a teenage boy.

He was a well-known BBC regular at this point, having taken over the Friday afternoon Official Chart slot the previous month.

May 2019

The case was dropped in May 2019 after the Crown Prosecution Service said there was not sufficient evidence to prosecute.

In their statement, the police said: ‘The Crown Prosecution Service determined the evidential threshold had not been met to bring charges.

‘Following this advice, the investigation was closed in May 2019.’

October 2022

After 20 years on Radio 1 as cover and main show host, Mills moved to BBC Radio 2 to take over the afternoon slot from the late Steve Wright.

‘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,’ Scott said at the time.

‘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.’

He thanked the listeners, his ‘immensely talented’ co-workers and Chris Stark, who was also leaving the station.

‘I really cannot believe I’m going to be calling Radio 2 my new home!’ Mills continued. ‘I’m beyond excited to be joining the team and working alongside my radio idols and friends at the legendary Wogan House.

‘I would like to wish all the best to Steve, who is one of the finest broadcasters in the world and someone whom I look up to so much.’

January 2025

Three years later, Mills’ career jumped once again as he took over Zoe Ball’s Breakfast Show on Radio 2.

He had previously filled in for the mum-of-two during her absence earlier in the year, with Zoe later sharing her long-term battles with the chronic health condition, temporomandibular joint disorder.

While in this role, Zoe was earning £950,000 per year, so it was widely assumed his £315,000 salary would take a large jump.

It was revealed in the July 2025 disclosure that he was on £355,000 to £359,999 annual earnings, having only been in the new role for a few months.

He defended the hefty wage to The Sun at the time, sharing: ‘I’ve been doing this since I was 16 and I’ll tell you how much I got paid then — £20 a show. And it was a five-hour show in the middle of the night, 1 until 6am.

‘Obviously, there’s always curiosity around salaries because they get published every year. But I don’t think you can say that I haven’t played the long game.’

March 24 2026

In a seemingly normal show, Mills made his final appearance on BBC Radio 2, with no indication of what was to come.

After handing over to Vernon Kay for the mid-afternoon broadcast, he signed off with: ‘See you tomorrow.’

The pair had joked about whether they’d ever shaved their legs before, with Mills saying it was ‘quite good’, adding he had waxed as he ‘had to be hairless’ for a transformation video 10 years ago.

March 25 2026

The BBC launched an investigation after a complaint regarding Mills’ historic police investigation.

Long-time presenter, Gary Davies, stepped in to replace the DJ, barely mentioning Mills’ sudden disappearance.

He joked with travel reporter Ellie Brennan that he never usually sees her ‘this early’ in the morning, mentioning how he usually fills in for Kay instead.

March 30 2026

During the morning slot, Davies announced he would be ‘filling in for Scott until Thursday’ but didn’t offer any explanation.

Hours later, it was announced that Mills had been sacked by the corporation over ‘personal conduct’.

At the time, the BBC released a statement which read: ‘While we do not comment on matters relating to individuals, we can confirm Scott Mills is no longer contracted to work with the BBC.’

An internal letter was sent to staff from BBC Director of Music Lorna Clarke, which 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.’

She continued: ‘Of course, it will also come as a shock to our audience and loyal breakfast show listeners too. I will update everyone with more information on plans for the show when I’m able to.

‘While I appreciate many of you will have questions, I hope you can understand that I am not going to be saying anything further now.’

March 31 2026

Early on March 31, The Mirror revealed that the allegation ‘relates to a historic relationship dating back more than 10 years.’

Hours later, the Metropolitan Police confirmed the alleged victim was under the age of 16.

In a statement to Metro, the BBC then apologised for knowing about the allegations almost a year ago.

It read: ‘We received a press query in 2025, which included limited information. This should have been followed up on, and we should have asked further questions.

‘We apologise for this and will look into why this did not happen. More broadly, we would always urge anyone who has concerns or information to raise it with us.’

The same day, a source told The Sun that Mills had ‘completely shut down’ and is not responding to attempts to communicate.

‘Scott was told about the allegation in a meeting with senior staff present,’ they shared. ‘He was tense. The people who know him are blindsided by all of this, and they can’t get hold of him.’

April 1 2026

It was revealed that the BBC had known about the police investigation into Mills since 2017 but had ‘new information’ in recent weeks.

In a lengthy statement, the broadcaster shared: ‘Scott Mills had a long career across the BBC, he was hugely popular and we know the news this week has come as a shock and surprise to many.

‘We also 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.

‘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.

‘The BBC has made a significant commitment to improve its culture, processes and standards. Last year, following an independent culture review, we set out the behavioural expectations for everyone who works with or for the BBC and we were clear action would be taken if these were not met.

‘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.’

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.