Scott Mills has admitted he is still struggling to process his new role as the host of BBC Radio 2’s primetime breakfast programme.
The 51-year-old opened his first show on Monday (27 January) telling listeners that he found it “mind-blowing” to be following in the footsteps of Chris Evans, Terry Wogan and the most recent host of the show, Zoe Ball – who left the programme in December to “focus on family”.
Mills told listeners: “Here we go then, Monday the 27th of January 2025 and this is the Scott Mills Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2.
“And I can’t believe I am finally saying those words, as a radio presenter and a radio fan all my life. I’m still finding it quite hard to process that this is happening, if I’m honest,” he continued.
"If I think too much about the previous occupiers of this show, it becomes mind-blowing to me, for a kid who wanted to be on the radio but wasn’t sure he had the self-confidence to be able to actually do it.”
The first track he played was Robbie Williams’ “Rock DJ”, from the 2000 album Sing When You’re Winning. Mills remarked afterwards: “This might be the best day of my life, apart from getting married.”
To mark his inauguaral day, BBC has arranged a series of special Scott Mills-themed events, with signage at Stockport train station was changed to “Scottport” on Monday, whole a choir appeared on the show to sing Scott-themed songs, such as the Spice Girls’ “Stop Right Now” being reimagined into the lyrics “Scott Right Now”.
A station spokesperson for Stockport told Mills on air: "The team have been working so hard right the way through the night to change Stockport to Scottport. A whole new town, a whole new name, just to welcome Scott Mills."
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 Piccadilly Key 103 in Manchester, starting with a late-night slot and moving into presenting the station’s mid-morning programme.
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 launched 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.
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. That show will now be presented by Trevor Nelson.
