Sara Cox To Replace Scott Mills As New Host Of Radio 2 Breakfast Show, BBC Confirms

Mills was fired from the BBC at the end of March, leading to weeks of speculation about who would take over Radio 2's flagship morning show.

The BBC has unveiled the new host of the Radio 2 breakfast show, following the abrupt departure of Scott Mills.

At the end of March, it was announced that Mills had been fired by the BBC effective immediately after almost 30 years at the broadcaster.

On Thursday afternoon, it was confirmed that Sara Cox will take over the role moving forward.

Sara said she was “ecstatic, honoured and incredibly chuffed” to be taking on the role, which she said had been her “dream” since joining Radio 2.

“It feels like a bit of a full circle for me,” she enthused.

Currently, Sara presents Radio 2′s teatime show, a position she’s held since 2019.

She previously hosted the Radio 1 breakfast show between 2000 and 2003.

“I’ve had the most glorious seven years of my career on teatime so thank you to my brilliant teatime listeners who hopefully will join me at breakfast for excellent music and all my usual nonsense plus some superstar guests,” Sarah added, noting that she “can’t wait to wake the nation up with the biggest most fun breakfast show ever”.

Gary Davies had been filling in on the Radio 2 breakfast show in the weeks since Mills was axed as its host.

Shortly after Mills’ exit was announced, it emerged that the presenter had previously been questioned by the police in 2018 as part of an investigation into “allegations of serious sexual offences against a teenage boy”, who was under the age of 16 at the time.

A spokesperson for the BBC later responded to the “speculation in the media and online” in the wake of Mills’ exit, explaining: “We hope people understand that there is a limit to what we can say because we have to be mindful of the rights of those involved.

“What we can confirm is that in recent weeks, we obtained new information relating to Scott and we spoke directly with him. As a result, the BBC acted decisively in line with our culture and values and terminated his contracts on Friday 27 March.

“Separately, we can confirm the BBC was made aware in 2017 of the existence of an ongoing police investigation, which was subsequently closed in 2019 with no arrest or charge being made. We are doing more work to understand the detail of what was known by the BBC at this time.”

The BBC also previously apologised for failing to “follow up on” an additional allegation about Mills that was raised by a freelance journalist in 2025.

In a statement issued by Mills’ team to HuffPost UK days after his Radio 2 departure, he said: “The recent announcement that I am no longer contracted to the BBC has led to the publication of rumour and speculation. In response to this, the Metropolitan Police has made a statement, which I confirm relates to me.

“An allegation was made against me in 2016 of a historic sexual offence which was the subject of a police investigation in which I fully cooperated and responded to in 2018. As the police have stated, a file of evidence was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service, which determined that the evidential threshold had not been met to bring charges.

“Since the investigation related to an allegation that dates back nearly 30 years and the police investigation was closed seven years ago, I hope that the public and the media will understand and respect my wish not to make any further public comment on this matter.”

© HuffPost