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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Zara Woodcock

Scott Mills in tears playing emotional last song as he leaves Radio 1 after 24 years

Scott Mills has waved goodbye to his time at BBC Radio 1 as he presented his last-ever show at the station.

The presenter told listeners the last show would be a 'rollercoaster' as he received a number of surprises by his colleagues and celebrity friends and admirers.

In the first hour, Scott was handed a gold plaque from the station boss as it was announced the studio would be named after him, following his 24 years of service.

The DJ, 48, joked about a potential renaming of the studio on the Breakfast show with Greg James earlier on Thursday.

The studio previously named 82A will now be known as 82 Mills.

Mills said: “I can’t cope with this, it’s too much. I can’t believe it. That’s amazing.

“I am so sorry that has totally thrown me off. This is the ultimate honour thank you so much.”

Stark said: “The first show from 82 Mills will ironically be our last.”

The momentous show kick-started with a montage of messages from listeners, his partner and the wife and son of co-presenter Chris Stark.

Scott's partner Sam Vaughan said: “Scott I just want to say how proud me and Teddy (their dog) are of you.


“I know what a massive part of your life Radio 1 has been and I know how much hard work goes into the shows, and we are so proud of everything you have achieved.

The star shared all the best moments over the years (realscottmills / Instagram)
He gushed over his incredible colleagues (realscottmills / Instagram)


“Just seeing the messages of love over the past few weeks has made me realise how lucky I am to be with you. Well done and enjoy your last show.”

After hearing the messages, Scott said: "I have had to do a lot of deep breaths today, even the sky is crying. This is going to be a roller-coaster, all the music I or we really celebrated at the time.”

In between hit songs, emotional messages were played out to Scott and Chris.

Lewis, who Scott is pals with, was the first to say goodbye in a slew of sweet voice recordings.

"Hello Scott, hello Chris, it's Lewis Capaldi here. I've been hearing that Chris, you've been getting hammered in the pub and telling people that you made me but it's fine. Okay, it has roots in truth. I love you both," he said.

DJ Joel Corry also said goodbye and recorded: "I just want to say thank you so much for all the support and love over the years."

Scott Mills waves goodbye to BBC Radio 1 after 24 years as he presents final show (realscottmills / Instagram)

Towards the end of the show, the type of music Scott played started to change. When Chris' daughter appeared to say goodbye, Encanto's We Don't Talk About Bruno played.

As it was his last show, Scott decided to put on Christmas hit All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey.

Thing started getting emotional towards the end of their show, with both Chris and Scott tearing up as they read their goodbye messages.

The show ended with a One Direction song (bbcradio1 / Instagram)
Scott choked back tears as he said goodbye (bbcradio1 / Instagram)

Chris thanked his family before telling Scott how much he loves him and how he is proud of him 'in so many ways'.

One more song was played before it was Scott's turn to pay tribute to his fruitful career, with the star choking back tears during this segment.

“Thank you so much wherever you are listening right now….thank you to every single one of you. This show is nothing without you, your calls, texts, your friendship," he said.

They signed off with a 'Love you, bye' before playing their final song, One Direction's Night Changes.

The radio star announced his exit from his radio show at the beginning of July after 24 years of working on the station.

At the time, he released a statement about his Radio 1 journey and paid tribute to everyone he worked with.

Scott has been on Radio 1 for 24 years (bbcradio1 / Instagram)
He presented his last show today (bbcradio1 / Instagram)

"There are too many people to thank from my Radio 1 journey," he said at the time.

"So to the immensely talented people I’ve worked with along the way, to our incredible listeners that have made us part of their everyday lives for so long and of course to Chris - not just my co host, but one of my best friends in the world, which of course he will be forever. THANK YOU.

"It’s also been an honour to start the weekend on BBC Radio 5 Live for the past three years. I’m so proud with what we have managed to achieve."

He kicked off the show, which he hosts with Chris Stark, at 1pm on August 25.

During Scott's last show, BBC Radio 1's operations manager Tony Wood gushed over the radio star: "I class myself as extremely fortunate to have been work colleagues of you for many years, and I've joined I've enjoyed every moment working with you and admired genuinely how you've used this studio as a weapon of mass hilarity."

Scott has met Rihanna a few times (realscottmills / Instagram)

Scott was also told that the studio is being renamed 82 Mills.

The 48-year-old, who will be moving to Radio 2, has spent the last month sharing memories of his time on the show.

Taking to his Instagram, Scott has shared a memory-a-day, including moments with colleagues and best moments with A-list celebrities.

On day 14, Scott shared a collage of all the big stars he's interviewed over the years, including Jennifer Lopez, Snoop Dogg, Nicole Scherzinger, One Direction, Jonas Brothers and Ashton Kutcher.

He also met Usher, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Kesha, Pamela Anderson and more.

One day 21, he discussed Radio 1's Big Weekend and how he attended every single one of them (bar one).

He met endless A-list celebrities (realscottmills / Instagram)

"We also did similar events before the Big Weekends began in 2003, called One Big Sunday," he said. "The first time I ever went on stage for Radio 1 was at the Big Sunday on the Downs in Bristol, and I think the crowd was over 100,000 people.

"When you witness a sea of Radio 1 listeners having the time of their life with their mates and watching their favourite artists in the world nothing makes you feel prouder or luckier to work at Radio 1."

In the collage, he shared snaps and clips of himself interviewing celebrities backstage. He also shared snaps of him simply enjoying the show.

On day 24, in a post shared on Wednesday, Scott talked about the impact the radio show had on people and how proud he has been working with incredible people.

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He used his Instagram to share a memory-a-day (realscottmills / Instagram)

"Radio is intimate. It’s personal. It’s routine. You feel like we are all mates. That is the radio I’ve always wanted to create," he said.

"But behind the scenes there are so many immensely talented and creative people who love radio as much as I do. Like REALLY love it. And they deserve as much (I actually think more) credit than me.

"The various teams I’ve been lucky enough to work with over 24 years work HARD. This is not a 9-5 job. The show you hear would not even be half as good without these talented people."

He went on to gush over the positive vibes of the studio and thanked all the 'truly brilliant people' he worked with.

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