BBC Radio 2 host Dermot O’Leary has addressed the sacking of his colleague Scott Mills, saying that it’s been “a complete shock” to the whole team.
Mills, who spent nearly three decades at the BBC, was suddenly taken off air last week and fired at the weekend over “allegations about his personal conduct”.
A spokesperson for the broadcaster said: “While we do not comment on matters relating to individuals, we can confirm Scott Mills is no longer contracted to work with the BBC.”
Now, Radio 2 presenter Dermot O’Leary has spoken about Mills’ firing, admitting on ITV’s This Morning that no one at the station saw it coming.
“Speaking as part of the Radio 2 family and certainly not on behalf of them, and it is a family, it’s a lovely place. All the on-screen talent knows each other well,” he said on Tuesday (31 March).
“We get together relatively often, it’s a lovely place to work, it’s very collegiate. This was a complete shock to everyone. It came from nowhere.”
It has since emerged that the breakfast show presenter was questioned by police over allegations of serious sexual offences against a teenage boy in 2018, but the case was dropped due to a lack of evidence and no charge was brought agains Mills.
The claims date back to the Nineties, when Mills was working at BBC Radio 1, however it is currently unknown whether the BBC knew of the investigation at the time and it is unclear whether his firing is related to the police investigation.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement that a man, who was in his forties at the time of the interview, was investigated in 2016 over allegations of serious sexual offences that took place between 1997 and 2000. He was questioned under caution in July 2018.
The case was later closed due to lack of evidence and Mills was not charged with a criminal offence.
Earlier on Tuesday, the BBC confirmed that Mills would not be commentating during the Eurovision Song Contest. The presenter has been part of the commentating team since 2011.
It has since been reported that Sara Cox will be replacing him in his Eurovision duties – however, the BBC is yet to confirm its official presenting line-up for the contest.
Since Mills’ exit, speculation has been rife over who will be replacing him in his BBC Radio 2 breakfast slot – with the likes of Rylan Clark, Dermot O’Leary, Sara Cox and Vernon Kay among those tipped to take over.
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