Radio presenter Scott Mills has defended his BBC salary after replacing Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2. Mills, 51, stepped into the primetime morning slot today, Monday, January 27, after Ball hosted the show for six years. He previously hosted the 2-4pm weekday slot.
He began his radio career at Power FM, a local Hampshire radio station. He then moved to GWR FM Bristol, and worked there for 2 years.
The move to the primetime show prompted questions over whether Mills’s salary would also be bumped. In 2023-24, Ball was revealed to have earned a staggering £950,000, whilst Mills earned £315,000, according to the BBC’s published list of salaries of its top stars. It’s not been made clear whether Mills will receive a similar salary to Ball in his new role.
But Mills has previously been unapologetic about his salary, saying he’s “played the long game”.
He told The Sun: “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 until 6am.
“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.”
He added: “It’s not like some hotshot’s turned up and is earning all this cash. No one likes discussing money. But here’s the thing, what you don’t get is people going, ‘Oh, I bet you’re getting paid loads.’
“What you get is people that have listened to you through school, college, uni, work, marriage, divorce, marriage again, kids. So they’re actually just full of congratulations.
“And I think the same will be true about the dreaded ‘S’ word – the salary. I don’t think anyone will be like, ‘Well, he doesn’t deserve that.’
“I hope people won’t think, ‘Well, he hasn’t worked very hard for that,’ because I’ve worked for this my whole life.”
Mills hosted his first breakfast show this morning, saying: “As a radio presenter, and radio fan all my life, I’m still finding it quite hard to process that this is happening if I’m honest”.
He added: “I’ve worked at the BBC for 25 years now, on the radio. A lot of you may have grown up listening to me, I’m sure a lot of you will not have much idea about me at all.
“Either way, if you could make me part of your morning routine, it would honestly mean so much, because I’m going to give it absolutely everything I’ve got. I really hope you enjoy it.”