Scott Mills

Scott Robert Mills (born 28 March 1974^[2][3]) is a British radio DJ, television presenter and occasional actor, best known for presenting his show on BBC Radio 1.^[2][4] As of the 2011 Contest, Mills has been one of the UK commentators for the semi-finals of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Early radio career

Mills began his career at the age of 16 as a DJ on his local Hampshire commercial radio station, Power FM, after barraging the station with demo tapes.^[2] Mills was given an opportunity to present a week worth of shows, and based on the success of this, he was immediately offered the 'graveyard slot' of 1:00 a.m. – 6:00 a.m. (six nights a week),^[5] making him the youngest permanent presenter on the mainstream commercial radio.^[2] Mills' popularity led to a quick move to the coveted late afternoon 'drive time'.^[6]

Mills moved from Power FM to GWR FM Bristol, staying with the station for two years,^[2] before joining Piccadilly Key 103 in Manchester where he again moved quickly from the late night slot to the mid-morning show.^[2] In 1995, Mills began to work for the new London station Heart 106.2.^[7]

Mills has provided various voice-overs, including the voice of the specialist of the in-store radio station Homebase FM,^[8] the voice-over for Blockbuster Inc.'s in-store infomercial channel Blockbuster TV, and recently the voice-over for The VH1 Album Chart on the UK television channel VH1.^[9]

BBC Radio 1

Scott Mills in the Radio 1 studios, 2011

Mills joined BBC Radio 1 in 1998 to present the early breakfast show which broadcasts between the hours of 4am and 7am. In January 2004, Mills shifted to a weekend afternoon slot for just over 6 months, but in July 2004, he moved over to the weekday early-evening slot, initially covering for Sara Cox, who was on a maternity leave.^[10] As she did not return, the slot became The Scott Mills Show.^[7] Mills also provides holiday cover for other slots including The Radio 1 Breakfast Show as well as also regularly covering on the official chart show.

The Scott Mills Show, as it currently features, runs from 1pm to 4pm, Monday to Friday and is currently co-presented by Chris Stark. Until 24 December 2009, it was co-presented by sport reporter and occasional presenter Mark Chapman (Chappers).^[11] The assistant producer was Laura Sayers until April 2008 when assistant producer Rebecca Huxtable, usually called 'Beccy' or 'Wacky Beccy' on air took over, she left the show in January 2013 due to being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.^[12] The regular newsreader is Chris Smith. The producer of the show used to be Emlyn Dodd, although he was referred to on air as 'The one who doesn't speak'.^[13]

In 2006, The Sun newspaper reported that Mills' salary was £130,000 a year for his work with Radio 1.^[14]

Features on the show have included Laura's Diary, Flirt Divert, Innuendo Bingo, Rate my Listener and Your Call.^[15] On Fridays, the show is modified with more music, in the form of the two features The Wonder Years, which features a different track from each sequential year to the present day, and Ready for the Weekend? which is an hour of dance music and remixes of current chart music.^[16]

Mills has a number of catch phrases. On Fridays, he used to open the show by using another catchphrase "it's only bley Friday" which is usually shouted very loudly in an incoherent manner to a backing of a random piece of classical music. He frequently ends telephone conversations with listeners with "love you, bye" in which many listeners reciprocate with the same response.

On 2 April 2012, he moved to the afternoon slot on BBC Radio 1.^[17]

Scott Mills: The Musical

On 14 May 2009, it was announced that a musical based on Mills' life would be performed at the Edinburgh Festival 2009. The musical ran for three nights between 11 and 13 August at the Pleasance One Theatre in Edinburgh.^[18] The musical was born from an internet rumour that Mills would perform in Rick Rolling The Musical as Rick Astley and other 1980s musicians. He denied this rumour on his radio show, and listeners' suggestions to create a musical based on his life became a reality. Some songs for the musical were composed and sent in by listeners to his radio show. The musical is available for viewing on the BBC Radio 1 website.^[19]

Mills did another Edinburgh Fringe show in 2010.^[20] He was challenged to do a one-man show, as was his co-host, Rebecca Huxtable, his producer, The One That Doesn't Speak, and his ex-co-host, Mark Chapman. Mills did his show as 'The Bjorn Identity', the story of Jason Bjorn, essentially, the Bourne Identity to the music of ABBA.

Television work

In addition to his radio work, he has also appeared on various television shows, playing both as a character and as himself. His main acting role was as reporter, Paul Lang in the BBC medical drama Casualty, appearing in episodes in both 2006 and 2007.^[21][22] He also had a cameo in the BBC Scotland soap opera River City after praising the show highly on his radio show.^[23]

Mills has appeared as a contestant or guest on programmes including Mastermind, Supermarket Sweep, Children in Need, Hollyoaks, Most Haunted and Never Mind the Buzzcocks,^[21] and has appeared in the show Identity, hosted by Donny Osmond.^[24]

He narrated the music TV show The Pop Years which, coincidentally, was also narrated by fellow BBC Radio 1 DJ Edith Bowman. He has presented high-profile programmes including the Wednesday night National Lottery draw on BBC 1 and his own pilot (featured on the radio show) of Reverse-a-Word.^[21] He has narrated Dating in the Dark on Living. In February 2008, he presented Upstaged on the newly re-launched BBC Three.^[25] He also hosted a BBC Three television show called Radio 1 on Three, inspired by his radio show.

In February 2011, Mills presented a documentary for BBC Three called The World's Worst Place to Be Gay?.^[26]

Mills appeared on series 12 of Strictly Come Dancing and his dance partner was Joanne Clifton, sister of Kevin, who also dances on the show.^[27] They came 11th in the competition after being eliminated in week 6.

Mills won, alongside Stark, the first episode of the two episode Robot Wars Battle of the Stars (2016) with their robot Arena Cleaner, which was a collaboration with Dave Moulds, who drove Carbide, second place in the preceding series. This was broadcast over the Christmas-New Year period 2016.^{[28] [29]}

Other work

In February 2011, it was announced that Mills would take part in the BT Charity Trek along with other celebrities as part of the 2011 Comic Relief Red Nose Day campaign. The celebrities spent five days in the Kaisut desert in north Kenya, covering 100 kilometres (62 mi) in temperatures up to 40 °C.^[30]

Personal life

Mills grew up in and around Southampton,^[31] attending Shakespeare Infant School and Crestwood College Secondary School in Eastleigh.^[32] He currently lives in London.

Mills' parents are separated,^[10] although both feature in the show at sporadic intervals.^[15]

Mills came out as gay to the press in 2001 to avoid tabloid-style speculation.^[33] Occasionally on the show, deflective comments are made, and Mills often jokes that he "doesn't have much luck with the ladies". In his Guardian interview he explained, "I'd just like to be accepted as a normal bloke who is gay and is on the radio and the television."

Scott appeared at number 12 on the Independent on Sunday's Pink List for 2010.^[34] Mills was the 50th most influential gay person in Britain the previous year.^[35]

Mills was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Arts from Southampton Solent University on 2 November 2009.^[36]

Mills has supported climate change causes such as Global Cool.^[37]

The bridge that crosses the M3 at Fleet services was officially named the "Scott Mills" bridge along with a plate, on 16 March 2016.^[38]

Awards

References

External links

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