The announcement that the previous presenter had been sacked by the BBC precipitated shock amongst listeners, and led to mounting stress on the broadcaster to elucidate what led to his sudden departure.
Earlier on Wednesday, the BBC confirmed it knew in regards to the sexual offences investigation in 2017.
In a press release, a BBC spokesperson stated: “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.
“We additionally recognise there’s been a lot hypothesis in the media and on-line since Monday. We hope folks perceive that there’s a restrict to what we will say as a result of we’ve to be aware of the rights of these concerned.
“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.”
The spokesperson added: “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.”
BBC News understands that the director normal on the time of the investigation, Tony Hall, didn’t know in regards to the allegations.
It is known that BBC bosses are working by way of information and approaching employees from the time to attempt to uncover precisely what was recognized in regards to the police investigation again in 2017.
One query that must be established is whether or not Mills’ bosses from that point, when he was on Radio 1, knew in regards to the age of the teenage boy.
Would the knowledge have been escalated to Hall if {the teenager}’s age had been recognized? And ought to it have been escalated to him anyway?
While allegations of sexual offences are all the time severe, there was by no means an arrest or a cost. But the BBC and its actions 9 years in the past – or lack of motion – has put it in the highlight.
Last 12 months the BBC launched a tradition evaluate which has led to a zero tolerance method. So when the BBC’s present administration found {the teenager} in query was under 16, it’s understood they felt the one choice was to sack the presenter.
Mills’s final Radio 2 breakfast present look was on Tuesday 24 March, when he signed off by saying: “Back tomorrow.”
DJ Gary Davies began the present the next day by saying he was “in for Scott Mills”, and has been masking the breakfast present since.
Davies and Radio 2’s in a single day presenter OJ Borg will cowl the present over the subsequent week, as hypothesis begins to mount over who will substitute Mills.
It was additionally confirmed on Thursday that Mills would be replaced on the podcast Race Across the World: The Detour by one other former contestant of the movie star model of the present, broadcaster and DJ Tyler West. This announcement is in time for the newest sequence, which begins at 21:00 BST on 2 April.
