🎄 The 6:30 Roll-Call

Scott opened the show with his new “school register” idea, inviting listeners to send voice notes saying “[Name]… here.” He joked: “Keren Woodward, here. Sarah Dallin, here. Siobhan Fahey, here.” Listeners joined in with Baz, Glyn Biggum and Deb Tymon all announcing themselves.

Meanwhile Tina and Ellie joined the fun too:

• Ellie: “Ellie Brennan, here.”

• Tina: “Tina Dehealy, here.”

Tina’s nativity-related stress was instantly iconic. Her daughter Athena is playing a snowflake and the costume delivery went wrong:
“The Glamazon driver said he’d handed it over to the resident when he hadn’t… He’s given it to the wrong house.”
Relatable mum content from Tina, as always.

🎶 Tin Whistle: Ellie’s Big Debut

Scott brought up Ellie’s unexpected new talent after seeing it on her socials: “You’re learning the tin whistle!”

Ellie revealed the plan for the office Christmas party:
“I decided that I’d learn ‘Fairytale of New York’… it’s about four bars of music.”

Despite insisting she wasn’t ready, Scott gently pressured her into performing live. Ellie, nervous but game, introduced it with:
“You’ve just got to remember this is the instrumental…”

The performance included a signature squeak, prompting Tina’s wonderfully mum-like reaction:
“Well done, Ellie!”
Listeners came in with reviews ranging from encouraging “Royal Albert Hall soon, love!” to “It’s a little bit like Below Deck on the Titanic.”

Scott promised more tin-whistle challenges: “Now you’ve debuted this on air, you’re going to start getting requests.”
He was right—Salt-N-Pepa “Push It” was requested within minutes. Ellie delivered a heroic, if chaotic, attempt.

🎭 Panto Panic: Scott Becomes… Jill’s Dad?!

Scott shared a moment of deep personal shock from panto rehearsals. After two years playing Jill’s uncle, the director announced a rewrite:

“He’s changed my relationship with Jill… I’m now Jill’s dad.”
Scott reenacted the moment: “I walk on stage and Jill goes—‘Hi Daddy’… and I was like, no, sorry. This isn’t working for me.”

Listeners tried to comfort him with increasingly complicated family-tree theories, none of which helped. Scott later confirmed: “I’m back as uncle now.”

🧵 Tina & Ellie: Christmas Party, Morocco & A Scheduling Nightmare

Scott raised the Breakfast team’s low-key Christmas do, only for Tina to soft-announce she might not make it:
“If it’s warm in Morocco, we might sneak three or four days there… it’s a soft launch if I’m not going to be there.”

Ellie, however, caused full-scale chaos:
She revealed she has accidentally double-booked Scott’s party and Vernon Kay’s gathering on the same day.
Scott: “This will really show us where your priorities are.”
Ellie: “I panicked and said yes to both.”
Tina: “Shame!” (using Scott’s new shame bell).

Scott admitted his own December honesty problem:
“If I’ve said yes to coming this year, I probably won’t.”

🎹 John Batiste

John Batiste arrived already singing Stevie Wonder and instantly turned the studio into a live jazz club.

He improvised music throughout the interview:
“Scott! Yeah!” as he riffed on the keyboard.
Scott: “It’s like having my own house band.”

Five Key Moments with John Batiste

🎹 1. Grammys in the Bathroom

John casually confirmed he keeps one Grammy in the bathroom because:
“My wife said it matches the tiles.”

🍽️ 2. Randy Newman’s Sandwiches

He revealed Randy Newman makes a “good sandwich” and that their collaboration grew over years of home-recording and book-swapping.

🎤 3. Beyoncé is still underrated

John said: “I think Beyoncé is still underrated… In retrospect we’ll see she’s like Prince or Stevie.”
He co-wrote the opening track of Cowboy Carter.

👑 4. Prince Communication Skills

On performing his first stadium show with Prince at 19:
John described Prince coming up to him at a jam—
“He wouldn’t talk. He mastered the art of communicating without using words.”
Scott’s reply: “So you talked to Prince… but he didn’t talk?”

🎄 5. A Christmas Song Made Up on the Spot

John improvised a bespoke festive song:
“Scott, you’ve got a gold soul… Scott and John over here… silver bells…”
A truly extraordinary moment of breakfast-radio magic.

🎁 Birthday Game Drama

Caller Sophie from Bedfordshire smashed the quiz with 22 points after pleading successfully for the quiz not to eliminate her due to a “little hesitation.”
Scott: “Please quiz… just the one.”
The quiz obliged.

Later, birthday caller Dave, aged 60, had flown-in guests from around the world but nearly lost his dream song after rejecting “Dance Monkey.” The wheel delivered:

• Robson & Jerome

• China In Your Hand (his final pick)

Dave: “Sunday roast music!”
He was delighted.

📨 The Mailbag Mystery: Ellie’s Lookalike

A listener wrote to say he met a woman at a party in Edinburgh who looked exactly like Ellie Brennan. She claimed to be her, even discussing the golden toaster. Ellie confirmed: “It was me. I had met Ian on the weekend.”
Scott: “I would love if you already had impersonators.”

🎅 Santa Takes Over the 8am Song

Huge coup for the team — the actual Santa Claus delivered a custom intro:
“Ho ho ho, I love the Scott Mills Breakfast Show… If you’re running late, blame me!”
Instant classic.