Scott Mills’ Radio 2 replacement revealed as star leaves show to take over from Zoe Ball on Breakfast
SCOTT Mills’ Radio 2 replacement has been revealed after he left his show to take over from Zoe Ball.
Scott, 51, will replace Zoe on her BBC Radio 2 Breakfast show in 2025, it was revealed last month.
The star – who presented the afternoon show between 2-4pm – will soon be on air from 6am to say good morning to listeners.
And it’s now been confirmed that Trevor Nelson, 60, will replace Scott in the afternoon.
Trevor has confirmed the news, while speaking at his Soul Christmas at the Royal Albert Hall.
He said: “Now I have a public service announcement. I will be doing the afternoon show at the end of January.
“‘It’s about time you got your vitamin D, cause I’m doing too many nighttime shows.”
He went on: “I’m really happy, it’s going to be a great time, please join me, if you don’t listen please start listening.”
Trevor – who presents Rhythm Nation on BBC Radio 2 Monday to Thursday – said of taking over Scott: “It’s going to be great being on daytime.
“It’s the ultimate privilege as a broadcaster to entertain the nation on the biggest station in the UK every day.
“I’m looking to have lots of fun and will be bringing a bit of soul to the new show.
“Regular listeners will be pleased to know that my ‘guess the artist’ fame, Five Seconds to Name will be coming with me, so hopefully newbies will enjoy playing along.”
Trevor has previously said in an interview that he’ll always work in radio.
Discussing his “secret” behind a career spanning three decades, he said: “I’ve been around a while, but out of the public eye a little bit.
“Staying off telly keeps you in just the right place.
“I could have done a lot more TV, but I chose to do radio because it’s my safe place.”
Dad-of-two Trevor first began his broadcasting career on London’s Kiss FM in 1985.
He then joined BBC Radio 1 in 1996 where he presented The Rhythm Nation, and then in 2008 his weekly soul and R&B show on Radio 1 was born.
Zoe’s last Breakfast Show is on 20 December.
Zoe Ball's career so far
Zoe was born in Blackpool and is daughter of the children’s TV presenter Johnny Ball and his wife Julia.
She appeared on television at a young age as part of the studio audience of the Saturday morning children’s show, Saturday Superstore when her father was a guest.
The star began her career in broadcasting as a presenter on the pre-school programme Playdays.
After various behind the scenes roles, she earned a spot as a regular host of Top of the Pops, when she alternated with the likes of Jayne Middlemiss and Jo Whiley.
In 1996, she was chosen to front BBC One‘s saturday morning show Live & Kicking, which led to stints on The Big Breakfast on Channel 4.
But she maintained a huge presence on the radio as she was chosen to be the co-host of BBC Radio 1 Breakfast alongside Kevin Greening in October 1997.
Zoe was later appointed the sole host of the show in a groundbreaking move by the corporation as she was the first female DJ to hold the post.
The presenter chose to leave the station in March 2000 to start a family, where she was succeeded by Sara Cox.
As a mainstream face in TV through the noughties, she hosted a range of huge programmes for ITV, including the Brit Awards in 2002, Extinct in 2006, and both Soapstar Superstar and Grease Is The Word in 2007.
In mid-2002, she returned to radio when she joined Xfm (later known as Radio X), when she was the voice of the weekday drivetime show until December 2003. In 2004, she stood in for Ricky Gervais while he filmed the second series of The Office.
In October 2005, she appeared as a contestant on the third series of Strictly Come Dancing, where she was partnered with Ian Waite, The star impressed viewers with her footwork and the duo waltzed into third place.
In 2011, she returned to the franchise as she took over as the host of the magazine spin-off show, It Takes Two.
She also filled in for Claudia Winkleman on the main show in 2014, when The Traitors star took leave after her daughter suffered serious burn injuries.
After 10 years fronting the show, Zoe announced she was quitting her role on BBC Two in May 2021.
Zoe’s journey in BBC Radio 2 started in 2006 when she fronted specialist documentaries. Over the years she sat in for names such as Dermot O’Leary, Ken Bruce and Chris Evans.
After several shake-ups, she returned to the station on a permanent basis when she took over Dermot’s Saturday afternoon slot between 3pm and 6pm.
In October 2018, Chris Evans moved to Virgin Radio and he personally announced that Zoe would take over his popular slot. She started presenting the breakfast show on 14 January 2019.
She will then be stepping back from her role that she took over from Chris Evans in 2019.
Zoe is usually on air weekdays from 6.30am, but from January next year it’ll be Scott.
Scott celebrated his last day on the afternoon slot recently.
Sharing on Instagram, he wrote: “After two years that’s it for the afternoon show – ‘the least distracting show on the radio’, but an award winning one!
“Thank you to the team and most importantly to you for listening,
“I’m not going far.. just the other end of the day!
“I’ll see you in the new year when we will wake up together!”