Radio show host Scott Mills was reportedly investigated for “serious sexual offenses” against a teenage boy
The BBC has been embroiled in yet another scandal involving child sexual abuse allegations against one of its top presenters.
On Monday, the British state broadcaster confirmed that it fired the star of its Radio 2 breakfast show, Scott Mills, “following allegations about his personal conduct.” It did not elaborate further.
According to Sky News, the BBC presenter was being probed over past allegations of sexually abusing a child under the age of 16 – the UK’s age of consent.
The Metropolitan Police had initially launched an investigation in December 2016 relating to “allegations of serious sexual offenses against a teenage boy,” the news channel reported on Tuesday, citing law enforcement.
The alleged crimes reportedly took 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,” Sky News cited the police force as saying, adding that the probe was eventually dropped due to lack of evidence.
Mills was among the highest-paid BBC stars, with an annual salary of more than £355,000 ($473,000), according to the corporation’s 2024–2025 pay report.
There is a long record of crimes involving minors being committed by BBC personalities. Jimmy Savile, Stuart Hall, and Rolf Harris all abused children while working for the corporation, with the latter two serving sentences for sexual assaults involving girls as young as seven. In 2024, news presenter Huw Edwards was sentenced for possessing indecent images of children. Edwards received a six-month sentence, suspended for two years, meaning he will only go to prison if he reoffends during that period.
Savile allegedly abused as many as 450 victims – most of them children or young people – over the course of five decades. His alleged crimes shook the UK following his death in 2011, prompting an unprecedented investigation into how the BBC handled the issue.