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Home / Entertainment

BBC radio host Scott Mills’ alleged victim was boy aged under 16

Craig Simpson, Lily Shanagher, and Will Bolton
Daily Telegraph UK·
31 Mar, 2026 06:48 PM4 mins to read

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BBC broadcaster Scott Mills in 2022 in London, England. Mills, 53, will no longer host his Radio 2 breakfast show. Photo / Getty Images

BBC broadcaster Scott Mills in 2022 in London, England. Mills, 53, will no longer host his Radio 2 breakfast show. Photo / Getty Images

The teenage boy at the centre of the Scott Mills sexual offences investigation was aged under 16, British police have confirmed.

The Radio 2 presenter’s BBC contract was terminated on Monday following allegations about his “personal conduct”.

The Mirror reported that the sacking related to allegations of serious sexual offences committed by Mills against a teenage boy between 1997 and 2000.

On Tuesday local time, police confirmed that the alleged victim was under the age of 16 at the time.

The allegation was made to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary in December 2016 before being passed to the Metropolitan Police, the Telegraph understands.

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Prosecutors did not bring charges because of insufficient evidence.

The Met said in a statement: “In December 2016, the Met began an investigation following a referral from another police force. The investigation related to allegations of serious sexual offences against a teenage boy.

“These were reported to have taken place between 1997 and 2000. As part of these inquiries, a man who was in his 40s at the time of the interview was questioned by police under caution in July 2018.

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“A full file of evidence was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service, who determined the evidential threshold had not been met to bring charges. Following this advice, the investigation was closed in May 2019.”

The Telegraph understands the alleged victim was unhappy with the CPS decision not to prosecute the case.

They requested a review of the decision. However, that review also concluded that there was insufficient evidence to charge Mills.

Mills – who had worked for the BBC since 1998 – will no longer host the Radio 2 breakfast show, which he took over from Zoe Ball last year.

The 53-year-old was last heard on air on March 25 and had been scheduled to return the next day, telling listeners that he would be “back tomorrow”.

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Mills, who earned between £355,000 and £359,999 ($819,415 and $830,953), was informed after his last show that his contract had been terminated.

His sacking led BBC Radio 2’s 12pm bulletin, with presenter Jeremy Vine saying he was “taken aback” by the news.

“I had not heard anything about it until 17 minutes ago, when it was on the BBC website, and I only had the information that was given to you in the bulletin,” said the presenter.

“I have nothing more – that it was allegations about Scott Mills’ personal conduct which have led to him being sacked.”

In a message to staff, Lorna Clarke, the BBC’s director of music, said: “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 Radio 1, 5 Live, Radio 2 and TV.

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“I felt it was important to share this news with you at the earliest opportunity.”

Sima Kotecha, a BBC News correspondent, later said on air: “This is mega news. We heard gasps in the newsroom when people realised he had been sacked.”

In an internal email seen by the Sun, Rhodri Talfan Davies, the acting director-general, told staff: “I hope you all understand that we are not able to share any more information”.

Mills had hosted the Radio 2 breakfast slot – one of the BBC’s most coveted roles – since last January. That month, he told the Telegraph it would take time for the Radio 2 audience to adjust to him and that he would play the “long game” in an effort to win listeners round.

After Mills took over Ball’s slot, the number of listeners dropped by 600,000, as the station’s overall audience dipped below 13 million for the first time.

Mills appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2014, and last month announced the United Kingdom’s song for Eurovision 2026.

He married his partner, Sam Vaughn, after the pair won the BBC reality TV show Race Across the World in 2024 following a 12,390km race across South America. The couple met during a radio event in Wales when Vaughn was 26 and Mills was 42.

Mills once admitted that trouble with alcohol should have led to him being sacked by the BBC early in his career.

In 2003, following a night of celebration at the Brit Awards, he admitted that he had still been “very, very drunk” when presenting his show.

Sign up to Herald Premium Editor’s Picks, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week’s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here.

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