The slow and steady rise of BBC Radio 2’s new Breakfast Show host Scott Mills
Mills has officially replaced Zoe Ball in the coveted radio slot
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Your support makes all the difference.Scott Mills has made his debut in the coveted Radio 2 Breakfast Show slot, replacing former host Zoe Ball.
The 51-year-old, who began his radio career aged 16, called the new role a dream come true, remarking that he was pleased to be following in the footsteps of former Breakfast Show icons Sir Terry Wogan, Chris Evans and Ball.
Listeners welcomed Mills as he introduced himself on Monday (27 January), one day after defending what was reported to be his high salary.
While it’s not yet been made public what Mills’s new pay 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, one 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.”
As a teenager, Mills bagged his first role in radio at Power FM – his local station in Fareham, Hampshire.
He instantly impressed the producers at the station and was given the “graveyard slot”, which aired between 1am and 6am; six nights a week. He later graduated into the afternoon “drive time” slot, which typically airs from 5pm.
His role at Power FM made him the youngest radio presenter in the UK.
Mills made the move from Power FM to GWR FM Bristol, where he stayed for two years, before moving to Picadilly Key 103 in Manchester, starting with a late-night slot and moving into presenting the station’s mid-morning programme.
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While at the Manchester station, Mills secured exclusive interviews with popstars including Robbie Williams and discussed his departure from Take That.
The presenter made his move to London in 1995 and began presenting for Heart Radio, which had just been launch at the time. At Heart, Mills began making enough noise to get attention from the BBC.
His hard work paid off when he was approached by BBC Radio 1 and joined in October 1998 to present the early breakfast show between 4am and 7am. By 2004, he was moved into a weekend afternoon slot.
Also in 2004, Mills covered Sara Cox’s maternity leave, and when Cox decided not to return, he became the permanent presenter of the early evening programme, which was renamed The Scott Mills Show. Cox returned to the station in 2005 but Mills remained in his slot.
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That show moved to an earlier afternoon slot in April 2012 when Mills started sharing presenting duties with Greg James.
Though Mills had made regular appearances on BBC Radio 2 as a cover presenter, he had never formally moved across. It was announced in 2022 that he was leaving Radio 1 after 24 years to replace Steve Wright in the Afternoon on Radio 2, which airs between 2 and 4pm. Mills will remain in that slot until he replaces Ball in December, and Trevor Nelson will take the reins from Mills on the afternoon show.
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Mills got a proper taste of the Radio 2 Breakfast Show when Ball took an extended leave of absence from her Breakfast Show between April and September 2024, and he took over presenting duties with Gaby Roslin.
Earlier this year, Mills won the Gold award for Best Music Entertainment Show for his afternoon programme on Radio 2 at the Audio & Radio Industry Awards, which is radio’s most prestigious awards ceremony.
Speaking about his move to the Breakfast slot, Mills said in a statement: “Zoe and I have been such good friends now for over 25 years and have spent much of that time as part of the same radio family here at Radio 2 and also on Radio 1.”
“She’s done an incredible job on this show over the past six years, and I am beyond excited to be handed the baton.”
“It feels ever since recording my first shows as a kid for an audience of one, my mum, all roads since have led to this amazing opportunity.”
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