Mancunian DJ and former Piccadilly Radio presenter Gary Davies has landed a (possibly temporary) return to prime time in the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast slot following the abrupt sacking of former host Scott Mills (pictured), who took over the slot from Zoe Ball in January last year.
Eighties and nineties radio stalwart Davies’ return comes 33 years after he signed off from 11 years at Radio 1 with Derek and the Dominoes’ Layla in November 1993, although he has more recently been heard on Radio 2 as a regular stand-in for the likes of Ken Bruce, Steve Wright and Sarah Cox, as well as stints at Virgin and Century Radio.
Mills was sacked by the BBC following allegations about his personal conduct. His show was unexpectedly taken of air following last Tuesday’s edition, when Mills had signed off with a seemingly unaware “I’ll try again tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” and the days since, saw Davies in the hot seat, simply stating he was “in for Scott Mills.”
Information about the reasons for Mills’ sacking remains sparse at present, beyond it being related to “personal misconduct.” A BBC spokesperson said in a statement: “While we do not comment on matters relating to individuals, we can confirm Scott Mills is no longer contracted to work with the BBC.”
Meanwhile, in a statement to staff this morning , Lorna Clarke, director of music, said: “I wanted to personally let you know that Scott Mills has left the Breakfast show, and the BBC. I know that this news will be sudden and unexpected and therefore must come as a shock. Not least as so many of us have worked with Scott over a great many years, across a broad range of our programmes on R1, 5Live, R2 and TV. I felt it was important to share this news with you at the earliest opportunity.”
She added: “Of course, it will also come as a shock to our audience and loyal breakfast show listeners too. I will update everyone with more information on plans for the show when I’m able to. While I appreciate many of you will have questions, I hope you can understand that I am not going to be saying anything further now.”
News of the sacking led Radio 2’s 12pm news bulletin, and clearly came as a surprise to lunchtime host Jeremy Vine: “Obviously, I was taken aback by that opening story to the news,” Vine said on air. “I had not heard anything about it until 17 minutes ago, when it was on the BBC website, and I only had the information that was given to you in the bulletin, I have nothing more, that it was allegations about Scott Mills’s personal conduct, which have led to him being sacked. I have no more than that. Alright, on to today’s show.”
