“Scott Mills has officially become the new host of the BBC Radio 2 breakfast show (Picture: Sarah Jeynes/BBC) Zoe Ball sent Scott Mills a ‘tearful’ message during his his first BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show since taking over from her. On Monday morning, the 51-year-old DJ made his debut as the new official most after”, — write: metro.co.uk
Scott Mills has officially become the new host of the BBC Radio 2 breakfast show (Picture: Sarah Jeynes/BBC) Zoe Ball sent Scott Mills a ‘tearful’ message during his his first BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show since taking over from her.
On Monday morning, the 51-year-old DJ made his debut as the new official most after Zoe announced in November last year she was stepping down to ‘focus on family’.
‘Hello you, it’s me Zoe. I think I’m more excited about your first show than you will be right now,’ she said on the show. ‘I keep getting really tearful. I’m so proud of you, I just need you to know that. You are so born to do this.’
Scott told his new listeners that after so long at the Beeb, he is still ready to give his new role ‘everything’ he’s got.
‘I’ve worked at the BBC for 25 years now, on the radio, a lot of you may well have grown up listening to me,’ he said to listeners. I’m sure a lot of you will not have much idea about me at all,’ he said.
‘Either way, if you could make me part of your morning routine, it would honestly mean so much because, believe me, I’m going to give it absolutely everything I’ve got. I really hope you enjoy it. Let’s go.’
Zoe Ball announced her departure late last year (Picture: BBC/PA Wire) 
Scott has been on BBC radio for quarter of a century (Picture: BBC/PA) After playing his first song, Robbie Williams’ Rock DJ, Scott – who tied the knot with partner Sam Vaughan in June last year – quipped: ‘This might be the best day of my life, apart from getting married.’
Scott said he was still finding it ‘quite hard to process that this is happening’ as he opened the show.
‘Here we go then, Monday the 27th of January 2025 and this is the Scott Mills Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2,’ he said as he kicked off the broadcast.
‘And I can’t believe I am finally saying those words, as a radio presenter and a radio fan all my life, I’m still finding it quite hard to process that this is happening, if I’m honest.
‘If I think too much about the previous occupiers of this show, it becomes mind-blowing to me, for a kid who wanted to be on the radio but wasn’t sure he had the self-confidence to be able to actually do it.’
Scott laid out his plans for listeners (Picture: Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/Getty Images) He insisted his goals on the show are to make listeners ‘smile’, boost their morning mood, and make people ‘shoulder and head dance’ whether they’re ‘in bed, or in the shower, or in the car, or in the kitchen’.
The BBC mainstay also promised ‘to keep your spirits up on mornings when maybe you don’t feel so great’.
‘And I want you to reach out and be part of this show anytime you want to, anytime you feel like it. It’s your voice, your stories and your life that’s going to make this show into something that I really hope you come to adore and look forward to every day. That’s my aim,’ he continued.
‘I want you to be listening every morning, and for this to be your go-to place, where you know that Radio 2 is the one that is guaranteed to lift you up, to hear something funny or interesting, or an artist that you love, or a piece of music that means so much to you.’
Davina McCall has a sweet message for Scott (Picture: David Parry/Shutterstock) Elsewhere, Stockport train station has been renamed ‘Scottport’ for the day, while Davina McCall praised Scott as an ‘amazing broadcaster’ as she sent him words of encouragement on his first day.
‘Scott, it’s Davina, oh my goodness you are amazing! I love it. How long have I been a fan Scott? Like forever,’ she said in a message on Monday morning.
‘I know how much this means to you, I know how hard you have worked throughout your entire career and I also know what an amazing broadcaster you are.’
He’s joined on the show by newsreader Tina Daheley and traffic and travel reporter Ellie Brennan.
Zoe signed off last month, and now Scott is in the hot seat (Picture: James Manning/PA Wire) Zoe, who became the first woman to present the Radio 2 Breakfast Show, left in December, with presenters Mark Goodier and Gaby Roslin sitting in to present the programme temporarily.
Scott began his career with a local commercial station in Hampshire at the age of 16, going onto host some of the BBC’s biggest shows, including joining BBC Radio 1 in 1998 and becoming a host of the station’s early morning breakfast show.
He presented a variety of programmes on Radio 1 before launching his popular eponymous show in 2004, which aired between 1pm and 4pm, and later fronting The Official Chart Show from 2018.
Chris Stark joined as a co-presenter on the Scott Mills show in 2012 and the pair became popular thanks to a number of humorous segments including Innuendo Bingo.
Scott is no stranger to BBC listeners (Picture: Scott Mills/Instagram) Scott has also co-hosted Saturday morning shows on BBC Radio 5 Live with Chris, and has presented the Eurovision Song Contest, commentating alongside Rylan Clark, as well as sitting in for Zoe.
He moved to BBC Radio 2 in 2022 to take over the weekday afternoon 2pm to 4pm slot from veteran presenter Steve Wright, who died last year.
In 2024, he won BBC reality show Celebrity Race Across The World with his husband Sam.
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