How Scott Mills stands to lose a fortune

The ‘financial security’ Scott Mills once boasted of is now at risk after the BBC Radio 2 DJ was abruptly relieved of his duties – and his sizeable salary – on Monday morning. 

Mills, 53, has been fired by the corporation just six days after disappearing from the radio; sources claim his dismissal relates to a ‘historic male relationship’ with a former colleague. 

The decision means he will be severed from the BBC payroll, with Mills understood to be one of Radio 2’s top earners on a whopping salary of £355,000 to £359,999 a year. 

Mills’ prominence at the BBC had previously enabled him to snap up a £1.5million pile in suburban Hertfordshire after years spent living a bachelor lifestyle in London’s vibrant Kentish Town. 

His former home in the Camden enclave had previously featured on a 2019 episode of ITV show Through The Keyhole, during which host Keith Lemon was filmed rifling through the DJ’s wardrobes.  

He relocated to the outer London suburbs with husband Sam Vaughan in 2022 just five months after ending his 23 year association with BBC Radio 1 and taking over the late Steve Wright’s legendary mid-afternoon slot on Radio 2. 

An assortment of subsequent social media posts find the presenter enjoying a more sedate lifestyle while making the most of his new home’s sprawling back garden, double garage and rural surroundings. 

But there was no movement outside the property he shares with husband Vaughan and their pet poodle, Teddy, as news of his sacking spread on Monday morning. 

The DJ, a popular face at the BBC prior to his dismissal, took over the prominent  breakfast show slot from Zoe Ball in 2025, three years after joining the Radio 2 team after more than 20 years with Radio 1. 

He was thought to have taken a small pay rise upon his appointment, but sweeping cutbacks at the BBC meant he was still earning significantly less than Ball, whose Radio 2 earnings were understood to be around £950,000 annually. 

The DJ later defended his salary and said he had been ‘playing the long game’ his whole life to reach that point.  

‘I’ve been doing this since I was 16 and I’ll tell you how much I got paid then — £20 a show. And it was a five-hour show in the middle of the night, 1:00pm until 6am,’ he said.  

‘Obviously there’s always curiosity around salaries because they get published every year. But I don’t think you can say that I haven’t played the long game.

Speaking to The Telegraph shortly after his appointment, Mills revealed his comfortable financial position had given him the power to say ‘no’ after years of missing sleep for various work commitments.

He said: ‘Through my twenties, thirties and even forties, if I was offered work, I’d take it, sometimes at a risk to my health. I was working way too much, because my mindset was that you don’t know when it might end.

‘There was one freshers’ week where my schedule for playing in student unions was: Monday: Aberdeen, Tuesday: Glasgow, Wednesday: Edinburgh.

‘I would do my show in London, fly to Scotland, do the gig around midnight, stay over with four hours sleep, fly back, do the show in London, repeat.’ 

He added: ‘I took every opportunity for 20 years and actually, I don’t really want to any more. I enjoyed it, but life is different now.’

Mills also claimed he’d finally ‘made it’, following his elevation to the coveted breakfast slot last January. 

He said: ‘For the first time, I really do believe in myself. It’s like, “you have to look at the facts. They’ve put you on the breakfast show, you must be doing something right”.’ 

He was taken off air last week while bosses looked at the claim before announcing his dismissal on Monday – just six days after he vanished from Radio 2.

The BBC has refused to comment on the nature of Mills’ personal conduct, but the Daily Mirror claims that his shock exit is related to a ‘historic male relationship from more than ten years ago’.

The presenter was last on air on Tuesday, with veteran DJ Gary Davies replacing him from Wednesday onwards. 

The BBC said in a statement today: ‘While we do not comment on matters relating to individuals, we can confirm Scott Mills is no longer contracted to work with the BBC.’

It has been claimed he was informed over the weekend that he was sacked. 

Mills, who is paid between £355,000 and £359,999 a year by the BBC, took over the Radio 2 breakfast show from Zoe Ball in 2025. 

He married his long-term partner Sam Vaughan at a celebrity-studded wedding in Barcelona in 2024, the year they won Celebrity Race Across The World together. Previously, Scott had a three-year relationship with marketing manager Brad Harris, which ended in 2016. 

A senior broadcaster at the BBC has said there is ‘total shock’ at the corporation after Mills’ sacking. There were apparently ‘audible gasps’ from staff as they were told on Monday morning in an email from BBC director of music Lorna Clarke.

BBC UK Correspondent Sima Kotecha said: ‘Now this is mega news. We heard gasps in the newsroom when people realised that he had been sacked.

‘We don’t know why he’s been sacked but we do know that it will surely be unwelcome news. The fact that the bosses had to do this means there must be something potentially very significant here to let one of their big names go. 

‘As I said, this is a huge name in the BBC. We know what happened to Huw Edwards and how he left the organisation because of what he had done.

‘We are now asking questions about another mega star at the BBC who was on between £355-359,000 per year…this will be unwelcome news.’