Scott Mills has weighed in on concerns surrounding his appointment as Zoe Ball’s replacement on BBC Radio 2.
Ball, 54, exited the radio programme in December after six years of fronting the coveted BBC slot, with Mills announced as her replacement.
Moving from his previous weekday slot of 2-4pm, Mills, 51, is due to make his debut on Monday (27 January).
His appointment, however, has raised some concern among listeners over the lack of main women presenters on Radio 2. The new line-up will see no female presenters on air until 4pm on weekdays.
The radio host, however, seemed untroubled by the worries when he spoke to Radio Times in a recent interview.
Asked whether he thinks the lack of women voices will be an issue, he told the publication: “We have two women on my breakfast show in the morning. Tina Daheley, who will be doing the news, as she did on Zoe’s show, and Ellie Brennan, who is amazing and has done quite a lot on radio, too…
“And also, half of the breakfast show team – who sometimes you’ll hear on air and sometimes not – are also women. So no, I’m not worried about that in the slightest.”
The new line-up includes Trevor Nelson taking over early afternoons, with DJ Spoony doing 10pm Monday to Thursday, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor hosting a two-hour show on Friday nights.
Asked whether he was nervous about leading the flagship show, he said: “I’m not finding it daunting at all. I’m ready for the challenge.”
Speaking about his preparation for the role, he added: “It’s a military operation – I’ve written up exactly what time I’ll be doing whatever each day, right down to putting outfits out for the morning.
“You absolutely must be awake by this time. You absolutely must have left the house by this time. And you absolutely must prioritise sleep, otherwise you become a person that no one’s going to be around.”
Radio 2’s flagship show boasts an audience of 6.3 million listeners. Mills, though, 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.”
Ball signed off from her final BBC Radio 2 breakfast show on 20 December with an emotional broadcast in which she thanked her listeners for their “special intimate relationship” over the last six years.
Ending her final show, Ball said: “I send buckets of love out to you and your dear ones this Christmas, it’s been very special. Take care of yourselves, lovely peeps, my top cats.”
She ended the programme by playing Kim Wilde’s “Keeping The Dream Alive.”
