Capital Summertime Ball 2024

[Jono]

<P>While it may seem odd that the sexuality of a Radio 1 disc jockey could still be an issue in the 21st century, coming out when your target audience includes millions of teenagers risks incurring the wrath of conservative forces who still see homosexuality as a corrupting influence.

But Scott Mills, regarded as one of the station's most promising young stars, has decided that his sexuality is an important part of his character and should be acknowledged publicly. "It's not a secret at all, and I've always felt comfortable with it. But that's all people need to know really," he told the Guardian in an interview yesterday.

Mills, 27, decided to speak now to get the issue out of the way. As his profile grew, the news would have emerged anyway: better to manage it than be forced by tabloid hounding.

Seated on a leopard-print sofa in the basement bar at Bush House in London, home of the BBC World Service, Mills appeared nervous about the whole idea. But he insisted that, while he never made a pretence about his homosexuality, he had become aware that there was a part of his personality that was hidden from listeners.

"A lot of [gay] people in the public eye will talk about their girlfriends, and I've certainly never done that. It's not ever something I've really felt like I wanted to talk about before, or that I've had the opportunity to talk about before."

Mills will appear next week on That Gay Show, a new series for the digital entertainment channel BBC Choice, and in the gay lifestyle magazine Attitude.

"I've been offered the chance to do this TV show. Paul [the Radio 1 publicist] and I had this conversation about it and said it would be a good idea, and then we thought we'd better do the rest of it as well. A lot of people know anyway, but it's never been really said on the air."

Mills reckoned his listeners would not be fazed. "The target Radio 1 audience will, I hope, be fine about it. The climate has changed, even in the past five years."

But despite his public statement now, he insisted that he would not make an issue of his sexuality, or prattle on about his love life (his is single) on air. "I'm certainly not going to turn into some gay ambassador all of a sudden, because that's not me. I'm not a campaigner."

Mills, 27, presents Radio 1's early breakfast show, 4am to 7am. He was the likeliest internal candidate to take over from Zoe Ball on the main breakfast show when it came up at the end of 1999 but was narrowly beaten by the TV presenter Sara Cox.

He is now Cox's regular stand-in and sometimes presents the Top 40 chart show on Sundays. At the BBC, the frequency with which he deputises for other presenters has brought him the nickname "Scott Mills In For".

He joined Radio 1 three years ago from Heart FM in London, where he had to endure years of playing Elton John and Simply Red records. At age 16 he had become Britain's youngest professional radio DJ when he joined Power FM in Hampshire. At the BBC his star is rising. Some critics say Cox's show is not performing well; Mills is bound to get a peak time show sooner or later.

Mills said tactfully he was not ready for the breakfast show when it came up, but he is clearly ambitious. Musically, he claims not to be a "pop snob" but sees dance and R&B as the focus of his interests. But he says that predictions of the demise of chart singles are premature.

"I'm not a fan of Hear'Say, but that whole Popstars thing is amazing for the music industry," he said. "Even if you don't like the songs, you have to look at the figures. A while ago records were selling three copies and getting to number one, and the credibility and longevity of the singles chart could be questioned."

The future of the chart is now secure, even if original musicians s find it hard to break through. "I wish sometimes it was still a bit special, like it was 10 years ago. But I still think it's an event, if you look at the audience figures for the Top 40."

Mills has a nervous period ahead, but hopes to be accepted - or rejected - for his talent behind the microphone rather than his sexuality.

His bosses are backing him: station controller Andy Parfitt, on paternity leave, is supportive; his deputy, Lorna Clarke, head of mainstream programmes, said: "Scott's sexuality has never been an issue since he joined Radio 1. He's always been 'out' to his colleagues at the station. Sexuality just isn't so much of an issue in the 21st century, particularly amongst our target audience."

Mills added: "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 and the television."

- The Guardian, 7th April 2001</P>