BBC Sacking Announcement Led to Rumour and Speculation, Says Mills

Scott Mills broke his silence on Wednesday, issuing his first public statement since the BBC terminated his Radio 2 contracts, saying the announcement of his departure had given rise to "rumour and speculation" and confirming he was the subject of a Metropolitan Police investigation that was closed seven years ago without charge.

In a statement released through his lawyers, the 53-year-old former Radio 2 Breakfast host said: "The recent announcement that I am no longer contracted to the BBC has led to the publication of rumour and speculation. In response to this, the Metropolitan Police has made a statement, which I confirm relates to me." Mills added that he "co-operated fully" with the police investigation.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed it had launched an inquiry in December 2016, following a referral from another force, into allegations of serious sexual offences against a teenage boy under the age of 16. The alleged incidents were said to have taken place between 1997 and 2000. Mills, then in his 40s, was questioned under caution in July 2018. A full file of evidence was subsequently submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service, which determined the evidential threshold had not been met to bring charges. The investigation was formally closed in May 2019.

The BBC sacked Mills on Monday, initially citing concerns about his "personal conduct." A BBC spokesperson said only that Mills "is no longer contracted and has left the BBC." The corporation has since acknowledged it was made aware of the existence of the police investigation in 2017, while it was still ongoing, but said it "acted decisively" after receiving what it described as "new information" in the weeks prior to Monday's announcement. Mills had been taken off air the previous Tuesday before the formal termination of his contracts was confirmed days later.

The sacking is reported to be among the final decisions of outgoing BBC Director-General Tim Davie, whose departure this week hands the reins to interim director-general Rhodri Talfan Davies. Davies now steps into a significant institutional crisis, with questions mounting over how the BBC handled disclosures about the police inquiry over the course of nearly a decade.

Mills had hosted the Radio 2 Breakfast show, one of the most listened-to programmes in British radio, and had spent more than two decades at the BBC overall.