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Getty ImagesScott Mills welcomed listeners to his first BBC Radio 2 breakfast show on Monday, telling listeners it was “all a bit overwhelming”.
The broadcaster has taken over the prestigious slot from Zoe Ball, who stood down from last month after six years of hosting.
“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,” Mills told listeners in his opening link.
He joked that everyone had been guessing what his first song would be, as he formally opened the show by introducing Rock DJ by Robbie Williams.
“Here we go then, this is the Scott Mills breakfast show on BBC Radio 2, and I can’t believe I’m finally saying those words,” he said.
“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.”
‘Mind-blowing’
Mills follows in the footsteps of previous Radio 2 breakfast hosts Ball, Chris Evans, Terry Wogan, Ken Bruce and Derek Jameson.
“If I think too much about the previous occupiers of this show, it becomes mind-blowing to me, for a kid who wanted to be on the radio but wasn’t sure he had the self-confidence to be able to actually do it,” Mills reflected.
“The aim here is to make you smile, bring up your mood, to make you shoulder and head dance in the car, or in bed, or in the shower or in the kitchen, and to keep your spirits up on mornings where maybe you don’t feel so great.”
Mills joined Radio 2’s weekday schedule in 2022, replacing Steve Wright as the host of the afternoon slot.
Prior to that, he worked on Radio 1 for nearly three decades and also hosted a weekend show on 5 Live.
The presenter told listeners on Monday he wanted to “make this show into something I really hope you come to adore and look forward to every day”.
The breakfast show’s other on-air voices include travel presenter Ellie Brennan, while Tina Daheley, who previously appeared on BBC breakfast radio shows hosted by Zoe Ball, Chris Moyles, Nick Grimshaw and Trevor Nelson, is the newsreader.
Several listeners recalled a comment Mills made last year, where he said: “Remind me never to do the breakfast show.”
Recalling the comment on Monday, Mills explained: “That was a thing that I said once on Race Across The World when we had to get up early to do the tasks.
“Ellie has just got me a card and on the front of it is the actual scene from Race Across The World. Things have changed, you know?”
PA MediaThe breakfast show is seen as the most prestigious flagship programme in a radio station’s schedule.
However, in Radio 2’s case, it is not currently the most listened to programme on the schedule.
That accolade is held by the mid-morning show, currently hosted by Vernon Kay, who took over from Ken Bruce in 2023.
Kay and Mills are two of several DJs who have gravitated to the station from Radio 1 as bosses have freshened up the schedule.
Radio 2’s weekday schedule now also features Nelson, Sara Cox and Jo Whiley, resembling the Radio 1 schedule of the noughties.
But not all former Radio 1 DJs automatically move to Radio 2. Moyles now hosts breakfast on Radio X, while Grimshaw recently took over the BBC Radio 6 Music breakfast show.
Discussing his goals for the Radio 2 breakfast show, Mills told listeners: “I want you to be listening every morning, and for this to be your go-to place, where you know that Radio 2 is the one that is guaranteed to lift you up, to hear something funny or interesting or a piece of music that means so much to you.”
Williams called the station to thank Mills for choosing to open the show with one of his songs.
Songs by Whitney Houston, The Beatles, Kylie Minogue, The Doobie Brothers, Madonna, Chappell Roan, Midnight Train and Rufus and Chaka Khan also featured on his first show.
Mills played voice notes from well wishers including Linda Rands, a retired opera singer who became a viewer favourite on the most recent series of The Traitors.
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