Scott Robert Mills (born 28 March 1973) is an
English radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transm ...
DJ, television presenter and occasional
actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...
. He is best known for presenting the ''
Scott Mills'' show on
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
from 2004 to 2022 and since then, on
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content ...
.
Mills has also been a UK commentator for the semi-finals of the
Eurovision Song Contest.
Radio
Early radio career
Mills began his career at the age of 16 as a DJ on his local
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
commercial radio station,
Power FM, after barraging the station with
demo tape
A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...
s.
[ Mills was given an opportunity to present a week's worth of shows, and based on the success of this, he was immediately offered the ' graveyard slot' of 1:00 am6:00 am (six nights a week),] making him the youngest permanent presenter on mainstream commercial radio.[ Mills later moved to the late afternoon ' drive time' slot.]
Mills moved from Power FM to GWR FM Bristol, staying with the station for two years,[ before joining Piccadilly Key 103 in ]Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
, starting on the late-night slot before moving to the mid-morning show.[ In 1995, Mills began to work for the new ]London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
station Heart 106.2.
Mills has provided various voice-overs, including the voice of the specialist of the in-store radio station Homebase FM, the voice-over for Blockbuster Inc.'s in-store infomercial channel Blockbuster TV, and the voice-over for ''The VH1
VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...
Album Chart'' on the UK television channel VH1
VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...
.
BBC Radio 1
Mills joined BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
in October 1998 to present the early breakfast show which was broadcast between 4am and 7am. In January 2004 Mills moved to a weekend afternoon slot, which was followed by a further move later that year to the weekday early-evening slot which was vacant due to Sara Cox's maternity leave. Cox did not return and Mills became pemament presenter of the early evening programme which was renamed '' The Scott Mills Show''.[ The programme moved to an afternoon slot in April 2012 when Mills swapped presenting duties with Greg James.
Whilst at Radio 1 Mills also provided holiday cover for other presenters as well as hosting '' The Official Chart'' between June 2018 and August 2022.
On 1 July 2022 it was announced that Mills would be leaving Radio 1 after 24 years to replace Steve Wright in the afternoon on ]BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content ...
.
BBC Radio 2
While being a regular daytime show host on BBC Radio 1, Mills did some work on Radio 2 as a cover presenter.
On 20 March 2017, he hosted a late night show from 10pm to 2am for Sara Cox' Dance-A-Thon.
On 28 May 2018, he did Bank Holiday Monday show ''Radio 2 Remix'' from 4pm till 7. The same day he did a live show on BBC Radio 1 from 1pm to 4, being one of the first people ending a show on Radio 1 and starting one on Radio 2 at the same time.
In April 2019, Mills was a stand in for Rylan Clark on Radio 2's Saturday afternoon show from 3pm to 6pm.
From 2021-22, Mills was the regular stand-in for Ken Bruce.
On 1 July 2022, it was announced that Mills was to join Radio 2 permanently to replace Steve Wright in the Afternoon
''Steve Wright in the Afternoon'' was the name given to English DJ Steve Wright's popular radio shows. Wright's afternoon show was known by that name from 1989.
Wright presented the afternoon show on BBC Radio 1 from 30 March 1981 to 24 Decem ...
, which ended in September 2022. Mills' new show, running from 2-4pm, debuted on 31 October.
BBC Radio 5 Live
On 17 October 2019, it was announced that Mills and his Radio 1 co-presenter Chris Stark would start hosting a show on BBC Radio 5 Live. The show was part of the station's new weekend line up starting on 9 November 2019. The show was broadcast between 9am and 11am. The final show was on 20 August 2022.
''Scott Mills: The Musical''
On 14 May 2009, a musical
Musical is the adjective of music
Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...
based on Mills' life was announced, to be performed at the Edinburgh Festival 2009. The musical ran for three nights between 11 and 13 August at the Pleasance One Theatre in Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. The musical was born from an internet rumour that Mills would perform in ''Rick Rolling The Musical'' as Rick Astley and other 1980s musicians. He denied this rumour on his radio show, and listeners' suggestions to create a musical based on his life became a reality. Some songs for the musical were composed and sent in by listeners to his radio show. The musical is available for viewing on the BBC Radio 1 website.
Mills did another Edinburgh Fringe show in 2010. He was challenged to do a one-man show, as was his co-host, Rebecca Huxtable
Rebecca 'Beccy' Huxtable (born 12 August 1981) is a British radio personality and producer, best known for her work as an assistant producer and co-host of ''The Scott Mills Show'' with Scott Mills on BBC Radio 1. She left the show in January 20 ...
, his producer, The One That Doesn't Speak, and ex- Newsbeat sports reporter, Mark Chapman. Mills did his show as 'The Bjorn Identity', the story of Jason Bjorn, essentially, the Bourne Identity to the music of ABBA.
Television work
In addition to his radio work, he has also appeared on various television shows, playing both as a character and as himself. His main acting role was as reporter Paul Lang in the BBC medical drama '' Casualty'', appearing in episodes in both 2006 and 2007.[ He also had a cameo in the BBC Scotland soap opera '' River City'' after praising the show highly on his radio show. He also appeared as a police officer in the ]Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
''Hollyoaks
''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a da ...
'' in 2008.
Mills has appeared as a contestant or guest on programmes including '' Mastermind'', '' Supermarket Sweep'', '' Children in Need'', '' Most Haunted'' and '' Never Mind the Buzzcocks'',[ and has appeared in the show '' Identity'', hosted by Donny Osmond.
He narrated the music TV show '']The Pop Years
''The Pop Years'' is a British television show that reviewed pop music of a certain year from 1980 to 1999. It was first shown on Sky1 in 2003 and was later repeated on Sky3. The programme featured archive clips relating to the particular yea ...
'' which, coincidentally, was also narrated by fellow BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
DJ Edith Bowman. He has presented high-profile programmes including the Wednesday night National Lottery draw on BBC 1 and his own pilot (featured on the radio show) of ''Reverse-a-Word''. He has narrated '' Dating in the Dark'' on Living. In February 2008, he presented ''Upstaged'' on the newly re-launched BBC Three
BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, cov ...
. He also hosted a BBC Three television show called ''Radio 1 on Three'', inspired by his radio show.
In February 2011, Mills presented a documentary for BBC Three called ''The World's Worst Place to Be Gay?''.
Mills appeared on series 12 of '' Strictly Come Dancing'' and his dance partner was Joanne Clifton, sister of Kevin, who also dances on the show. They came 11th in the competition after being eliminated in week 6.
Mills won, alongside Stark, the first episode of the two-episode '' Robot Wars: Battle of the Stars'' (2016) with their robot Arena Cleaner, which was a collaboration with Dave Moulds, who drove Carbide, second place in the preceding series. This was broadcast over the Christmas and New Year period 2016.
Other work
In February 2011, it was announced that Mills would take part in the BT Charity Trek along with other celebrities as part of the 2011 Comic Relief Red Nose Day campaign. The celebrities spent five days in the Kaisut desert in north Kenya
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, covering in temperatures up to 40 °C.
On 16 and 17 November 2022, Mills raised over £1 million pounds for Children in Need after riding on a treadmill for twenty four hours.
Personal life
Mills grew up in and around Southampton
Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...
, attending Shakespeare Infant School and Crestwood College
Crestwood Community School (known as Crestwood College prior to its name change in August 2017) is a coeducational secondary school, located in Eastleigh in the English county of Hampshire. Crestwood is a split-site school, operating two campus ...
Secondary School in Eastleigh. He currently lives in London.
Mills' parents are separated,[ although both feature in the show at sporadic intervals.]
Mills came out as gay to the press in 2001 to avoid tabloid-style speculation. Occasionally on the show, deflective comments are made, and Mills often jokes that he "doesn't have much luck with the ladies". In his ''Guardian'' interview he explained, "I'd just like to be accepted as a normal bloke who is gay and is on the radio and the television." Mills appeared at number 12 on the '' Independent on Sunday's Pink List'' for 2010. Mills was the 50th most influential gay person in Britain the previous year.
He was awarded an honorary
An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include:
* Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States
* Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...
Doctorate of Arts from Southampton Solent University on 2 November 2009. The bridge that crosses the M3 at Fleet services was officially named ''The'' ''Scott Mills Bridge'' along with a plaque, on 16 March 2016.
Mills has supported climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
causes such as Global Cool.
In October 2021, Mills announced he had got engaged to Sam Vaughan, his boyfriend of four years.[ ]
In November 2022, Mills' 24-hour Treadmill
A treadmill is a device generally used for walking, running, or climbing while staying in the same place. Treadmills were introduced before the development of powered machines to harness the power of animals or humans to do work, often a type o ...
walking marathon with Radio 2 raised over £1.2M for Children in Need.
Awards
References
External links
*
*
*
*
''Scott Mills''
(BBC Radio 2)
''Scott Mills' Wonder Years''
(BBC Radio 2)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Scott
1973 births
Living people
BBC Radio 1 presenters
BBC Radio 2 presenters
BBC Radio 5 Live presenters
English radio DJs
LGBT broadcasters from the United Kingdom
LGBT DJs
LGBT people from England
People from Eastleigh
Top of the Pops presenters