Scott Mills
Scott Mills had worked at the BBC for more than two decades and took over the Radio 2 Breakfast Show from Zoe Ball last year. Daily Star @realscottmills/Instagram

Scott Mills is reportedly planning to sue the BBC for unfair dismissal after he was taken off the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show in March, with reports suggesting the former presenter is now preparing legal action against his long-time employer.

For context, the news comes after Mills' sudden departure from Radio 2 earlier this year, ending a 28-year run with the corporation. He first made his name on BBC Radio 1 before moving across the schedules, becoming one of the BBC's most familiar voices until his contract was terminated against the backdrop of historic sexual offence allegations.

The DJ is said to have called in lawyers as he lines up a potential case over the way his exit was handled. In April, it was reported that his sacking followed the BBC's discovery that the alleged victim in a police investigation into Scott Mills, which began in 2016 and closed in 2019, was under the age of 16. According to a BBC article by Katie Razzall and Noor Nanji, that detail was cited internally as the key reason for his dismissal.

Scott, 53, is understood to be arguing that this was not new information to the broadcaster. He is said to claim that he disclosed the full details of the investigation, including the age of the accuser, to BBC executives when the matter first emerged, as reported by The Mirror. If that account is accurate, it points to a stark disagreement over who knew what inside the corporation, and when.

The allegations themselves are historic. Sexual offences involving a teenage boy under 16 are alleged to have taken place between 1997 and 2000. The Metropolitan Police investigated Mills in 2018 following claims of sexual offences against a teenage boy under 16 said to have occurred during that period. The case went to the Crown Prosecution Service in 2019, but prosecutors concluded there was insufficient evidence to bring charges.

Shortly after his sacking, Scott, who began his BBC career on Radio 1, responded through his lawyers. In a statement, he said he had been the subject of 'rumour and speculation' since being fired and insisted he had 'co-operated fully' with the police investigation into the historical allegation. With the CPS deciding not to charge and the file effectively closed, those allegations have never been tested in court.

A Long-Running Shadow

The news came after years in which the historic probe sat in the background while Mills continued to broadcast. The investigation started in 2016 and closed in 2019, yet he remained on air well beyond that period. Only this year did the BBC end his contract, after internal discussions that, according to Razzall and Nanji's reporting, focused heavily on the age of the complainant.

Their BBC piece linked the dismissal to senior figures at the corporation becoming aware that the complainant in the earlier police case was under 16 at the time of the alleged offending. That detail, they reported, sharpened concerns inside the organisation, even though the CPS had already concluded that the evidence did not meet the threshold for prosecution.

Mills' reported position cuts firmly against that narrative. As summarised by The Mirror, he maintains that he told BBC bosses the full story years ago, including that the complainant was under 16. If he proceeds with an unfair dismissal claim, that clash of versions — whether the BBC was genuinely blindsided by new information or reacting to longstanding knowledge once it became more public — is likely to sit at the centre of the argument.

At this point, none of those competing accounts has been tested before an employment tribunal or judge. The BBC's internal reasoning, and the precise timeline of who was informed, remains contested territory rather than an established record.

Wider Fallout Beyond Radio 2

The removal of Scott from BBC Radio 2 did not stay confined to one job. It has since spilled into other corners of his career, closing off work that had nothing to do with radio.

He has been dropped from the line-up of the Ibiza Symphonica summer concert because of the 'serious nature' of allegations against him. Concert spokespersons released a statement saying they had considered the 'serious nature of matters in the public domain' relating to Mills. After that review, they said they had decided to move ahead without him, calling it the best way to protect the event's 'spirit of enjoyment, celebration and positivity'.

Television has moved too. Channel 4 announced it would not air the final episode of The Great Celebrity Bake Off For Stand Up To Cancer, in which Scott appears, because of the allegations. The broadcaster said that instalment would be replaced with an alternative episode. For a charity strand that relies on celebrity goodwill and viewer trust, the decision to pull a finished programme was a visible sign of how cautious channels can become once historic claims resurface around on-screen talent.

Taken together, the lost Bake Off appearance and the Ibiza Symphonica booking underline how quickly work can fall away once allegations, even previously closed ones, return to the spotlight. Projects that had already been recorded, promoted or scheduled have been quietly taken off the table, despite the CPS decision that there was not enough evidence to proceed with charges.

So far, however, the legal side of Mills' reported fightback remains at a preparatory stage. No formal legal claim has yet been lodged, and his reported plans to pursue action against the BBC have not appeared in any court or tribunal filings. Until any documents are submitted and made public, the reported intention to sue, and his account of what BBC managers knew about the under-16 probe, remain untested and should be treated with caution.

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