Scott Mills has been pictured for the first time since he was sacked from the BBC.
The former Radio 2 Breakfast Show host was seen on a dog walk with his husband Sam Vaughan near their Hertfordshire home on Wednesday.
Mills, 53, was sacked last month after it was discovered he was the subject of allegations of ‘serious sexual offences’ against a teenage boy under 16.
Police investigated him from 2016 to 2019. Prosecutors then decided there was not enough evidence to charge him.
The radio star hid behind sunglasses and a baseball cap as he walked around his neighbourhood with his husband of two years.
In an extraordinary statement issued via his lawyers to the Daily Mail, Mills broke his silence to admit he was the subject of the investigation and did not deny the allegations.
Meanwhile insiders have said there is ‘total shock’ at the corporation after Mills’s sacking and the star is reportedly not taking calls from his worried friends following his sacking.
Lorna Clarke, Director of Music, told BBC staff in an email last month: ‘I wanted to personally let you know that Scott Mills has left the Breakfast show, and the BBC.
‘I know that this news will be sudden and unexpected and therefore must come as a shock.
‘Not least as so many of us have worked with Scott over a great many years, across a broad range of our programmes on R1, 5Live, R2 and TV.
‘I felt it was important to share this news with you at the earliest opportunity.
‘Of course, it will also come as a shock to our audience and loyal breakfast show listeners too.
‘I will update everyone with more information on plans for the show when I’m able to.
‘While I appreciate many of you will have questions, I hope you can understand that I am not going to be saying anything.’
It was claimed the BBC was aware of a police probe into Scott nine years ago but did not know the boy who accused the star of sexual offences was under 16.
The BBC admitted it was aware of the investigation into Mills in 2017 – but only fired him after ‘new information’ came to light.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed it had been in contact with the corporation on ‘several occasions’ over the allegations since 2017, after it was handed the case the previous year.
But Tony Hall, the Director general at the time, was not aware of the ‘full picture’, including the accuser’s age, sources have told the Mirror.
In an extraordinary statement issued via his lawyers to the Daily Mail, the 53-year-old broke his silence to admit he was the subject of the investigation and did not deny the allegations.
The full statement read: ‘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.
‘An allegation was made against me in 2016 of a historic sexual offence which was the subject of a police investigation in which I fully cooperated and responded to in 2018.
‘As the police have stated, a file of evidence was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service, which determined that the evidential threshold had not been met to bring charges.
‘Since the investigation related to an allegation that dates back nearly 30 years and the police investigation was closed seven years ago, I hope that the public and the media will understand and respect my wish not to make any further public comment on this matter.
‘I wish to thank from the bottom of my heart all those who have reached out to me with kindness, my former colleagues and my beloved listeners, who I greatly miss.’
The star is reportedly not taking calls from his worried friends following his sacking.
A source has told the Daily Mirror that Mills ‘has gone to ground’ since the decision was made and friends are ‘struggling to contact him’.
‘The show was his life and he is facing oblivion,’ a friend has told the newspaper.
The Mirror also claims that his close friends and acquaintances have been ‘left totally blindsided by events of the last few days’ and that they knew nothing about his sacking until Monday or the police investigation back in 2016.
