BBC Radio 1's Scott Mills

The Unofficial Mills Biography

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Scott was born in Southampton on the 28th of March 1974 at 1.10pm. His family include his mother and father, who are believed to be separated, and his brother Wes. His mother is a regular victim of Scott's prank calls on the show.

At the age of 16 he was given the chance to present a week of shows on his local station Power FM. He was then offered a five hour slot from 1am till 6am, six nights a week - making him the youngest radio presenter in the UK. Shortly afterwards he became the Power FM drive time presenter.

He then spent two years at GWR FM in Bristol and was then poached by Piccadilly Key 103 in Manchester. Although he was back on an evening shift, he soon moved to a mid-morning slot where he did many major interviews of high profile celebrities including Robbie Williams shortly after he had left Take That.

In 1995 he moved to new station Heart FM in London. At the time he was also on the television scene with weekly appearances on Sky News reviewing the latest music and presenting for the British Forces as well as a six week music show for the Middle East. He also made frequent appearances on ex-satellite television channel 'UK Play', presenting Top of the Pops @ Play.

In 1998 Scott was given a slot on the Early Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 1. He started on the 15th October 1998 presenting from 4am till 6.30am. On his fourth day Zoe Ball called in sick and Scott filled in for her, presenting five hours. In March 2000 Scott stood in at Breakfast again after Zoe Ball bowed out of Radio 1, until Sara Cox was ready for the Breakfast Show. Scott has said during his early breakfast career he went off the rails for a year: "A while back all I was doing was getting up at 3am so I didn�t feel like I was going anywhere. I went off the rails for about a year, I would arrive late for early breakfast and I nearly got sacked because I didn�t turn up once." Following the BRIT Awards 2001, Scott turned up to his early breakfast show still drunk, with Lizzie Buckingham having to wake Scott beforehand. The incident came to surface again in February 2006, when Scott played some of it out on the air again. It was during his time in the early morning slot that the catchphrase 'good mornin' developed after hearing material by the band Scooter. His flatmate was often involved in the show, dubbed 'My Flatmate The Comedian', and many believed him to be gay. At the time Scott reassured listeners his flatmate was "fully hetrosexual and likes ladies.. you'd never know that would you".

In 2001, whilst presenting the Early Breakfast show which by now aired from 4am till 7am, Scott came out to the media, and revealed he was gay. At the time Scott said: "I just want to be me, to be Scott and be a DJ on Radio 1 that people either like to listen to or don't like to listen to. I'm not going to start appearing on 'Gaytime' TV in pink shirts - I'd just like to be accepted as a normal bloke who is gay and is on the radio".

In the same year after his successful stints at Breakfast, Scott became a regular stand-in for breakfast show DJ Sara Cox. Then in 2003 he moved to weekends hosting the afternoon slot from 1pm. In May 2004 Scott moved to weekday afternoons to fill for Sara Cox who went on maternity leave. His weekend slot was then temporarily taken by Chappers and Dave on a Saturday, and Edith Bowman on a Sunday, before JK and Joel arrived at Radio 1. Sara Cox decided not to return to afternoons and was later awarded a weekend slot, so Scott was given the afternoon job permanently, working with Sara's co-host Chappers. The show then aired from 3pm till 6pm, before the weekday schedule shake-up where it moved to 4pm till 7pm. On Fridays Scott aired till just 5.45pm. Continuing his cover work for breakfast show presenters, Scott started to cover for Chris Moyles, with various DJs standing in for Scott whilst he presented Breakfast. These included Wes Butters, Vernon Kay, Spoony and JK & Joel.

In 2004, as part of Sport Relief, Moyles and Mills battled it out in a 'text-off' for their Sport Relief Mile. Unfortunately Scott was no competition for Chris. Moyles won with 123,389 votes. On the 1st September 2004, Scott hosted the very first Download Chart at 6pm on his show. The chart aired every Wednesday before eventually merging with the Sunday singles chart. Also in this year Scott presented Challenge TV's Reverse-A-Word, a show developed by Comedy Dave. Scott the 'Glastonbury Virgin' also popped his cherry this year, joining Vernon Kay for the festival whilst learning some new skills about erecting tents (above).

In 2005, Scott won a 'Loaded Lafta Award' for being the Funniest DJ, beating off fellow DJ Chris Moyles. He also joined Chappers, Laura and Neil (an old Broadcast Assistant) on Living TV's Most Haunted with Yvette Fielding. The summer of 2005 was also the first time Scott acknowlegded his fansite. In August 2005, the feature 'Flirt Divert' and Scott's voice appeared in a storyline on TV soap Hollyoaks. In July Scott co-hosted Live8 at Hyde Park in July along with Chris Moyles. One of Scott's toughest roles, undoubtedly, has to be presenting the July 7th 2005 Breakfast Show, the day London's public transport was attacked by terrorists. Scott stayed at Radio 1 HQ to later present the drive time show too, covering for Vernon Kay.

In November, Broadcast Assistant Neil (dubbed 'one of the ones that doesn't speak') left the show. A month later he was replaced by Dan Mumford, who remained on the show for around six months. And at the end of 2005 Scott hosted 'Radio 1 Relives 2005' where listeners got the chance to vote for their favourite moment of the year. In the Top 20, DJs Go Home came out top (where Scott returned to Southampton for a day) with Mills moments like Laura's Diary, Bruce Forsyth, and Shannon's Random Act of Kindness also making the list.

In 2006, his show went on to win a Sony Radio Gold Award in 'Best Interactive Programme' and a Sony Radio Silver Award for his 'Music Programme', this video shows him picking up his gold award. As for the RAJAR audience figures, Scott's afternoon show has grown in popularity since 2004. In August 2005, one year after moving to drive time, the figures stood at 5.52 million listeners, and in August 2006 this had increased to 5.85 million listeners.

But success came at a price. Scott, known for his cheeky prank calls, came under wraps for this revenge call in 2006 which along with a four lettered rant from Chris Moyles caused bosses to start fining DJs for their foul language.

Continuing to present Radio 1's Chart Show whilst hosts JK and Joel were off, he hosted two shows in March 2006 with Radio 1 Rap Show's Westwood, and another with Laura and Chappers. In the same month Scott's daily podcast launched, and Scott set off to find his colleague and friend of three years, Laura, a boyfriend in a national tour known as 'One Night with Laura'. At a gig at the University of Stirling in May, Scott was almost hit by a lit firework. His work for Sport Relief continued this year, supporting David Walliams' swim across the Channel, and embarrassing himself on a horse, something that was one of his fears at the time. Scott is due to appear in Casualty playing the character of TV reporter Paul Lang in November 2006, and on Celebrity Mastermind in December 2006, answering questions on his specialist subject Prisoner Cell Block H. He continues to gig at universities in the UK, including the University of East Anglia where Unofficial Mills was in January and June 2006. It is also expected in September that Scott's Friday show will extend till 7pm.