Scott Mills defends high BBC pay as he takes over Zoe Ball show: ‘I’ve worked for this my whole life’
Mills will make his debut as Zoe Ball’s replacement on the flagship show next week
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Your support makes all the difference.Scott Mills has discussed his pay from the BBC, as he takes over the Radio 2 Breakfast Show from Zoe Ball.
The presenter, 51, is stepping into the primetime slot after Ball, 54, left in December following a six-year stint on the show.
Moving from his previous weekday slot of 2-4pm, Mills is due to make his debut on Monday (27 January).
Each year, the BBC reveals the pay of its top stars, with Ball earning about £950,000 in 2023/2024, only second to the highest paid star, Gary Lineker, who earned around £1,350,000. Mills, meanwhile, earned £315,000.
While it’s not yet been made public what Mills’s new salary will be, he told The Sun he feels he has earned it.
He said: “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.”
Mills added: “It’s not like some hotshot’s turned up and is earning all this cash. No one likes discussing money. But here’s the thing, what you don’t get is people going, ‘Oh, I bet you’re getting paid loads.’
"What you get is people that have listened to you through school, college, uni, work, marriage, divorce, marriage again, kids. So they’re actually just full of congratulations.
“And I think the same will be true about the dreaded ‘S’ word – the salary. I don’t think anyone will be like, ‘Well, he doesn’t deserve that.’
“I hope people won’t think, ‘Well, he hasn’t worked very hard for that,’ because I’ve worked for this my whole life.”
Radio 2’s flagship show boasts an audience of 6.3 million listeners. Earlier this month, Mills said he will not be worrying about the audience figures.
“I will be applying the same formula that’s worked for me for the last quarter of a century on BBC Radio,” he said. “It will be energetic, it will be fun, and it will be listener-inclusive. When you’re listening, I want you to feel that the listeners are running the conversation, and they’re kind of running the show.
“The music is key and it will be hand-picked for a morning mood. Breakfast radio is a mood, and if you get that mood right, and it’s quite a skill, then you’re going to do well.”
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