BBC Knew About Scott Mills Investigation As Far Back As 2017

The BBC has issued a fresh statement about the circumstances surrounding Scott Mills’ abrupt firing earlier this week.

On Monday, it was confirmed that Mills had been sacked by the BBC effective immediately, due to an allegation about his personal conduct.

Following this, it emerged that he’d previously been questioned by the police in 2018 as part of an investigation into “allegations of serious sexual offences against a teenage boy”, who was under 16 at the time.

The Mirror alleged on Monday that Mills’ firing came following a complaint made about this police investigation, though the BBC previously declined to comment on whether this was the case.

However, on Wednesday afternoon, the BBC offered more information about what led to Mills’ departure from the corporation, clarifying that bosses were already aware of the investigation surrounding the former Radio 2 host as far back as 2017.

“Scott Mills had a long career across the BBC, he was hugely popular and we know the news this week has come as a shock and surprise to many,” a spokesperson said.

“We also recognise there’s been much speculation in the media and online since Monday. We hope people understand that there is a limit to what we can say because we have to be mindful of the rights of those involved.”

The statement continued: “What we can confirm is that in recent weeks, we obtained new information relating to Scott and we spoke directly with him. As a result, the BBC acted decisively in line with our culture and values and terminated his contracts on Friday 27 March.

“Separately, we can confirm the BBC was made aware in 2017 of the existence of an ongoing police investigation, which was subsequently closed in 2019 with no arrest or charge being made. We are doing more work to understand the detail of what was known by the BBC at this time.”

Earlier this week, the BBC also shared an apology for failing to “follow up on” an additional allegation about Mills that was raised by a freelance journalist in 2015.

“We received a press query in 2025 which included limited information,” they said. “This should have been followed up and we should have asked further questions. We apologise for this and will look into why this did not happen.

“More broadly, we would always urge anyone who has concerns or information to raise it with us.”