Scott Mills has addressed the hefty pay rise he’s expected to receive as the new host of Radio 2’s breakfast show.
On Monday morning, Scott officially began his first day as Radio 2’s morning host, taking over the role from Zoe Ball, who stepped down last month.
He began his first show with a vow to “to keep your spirits up on mornings when maybe you don’t feel so great”, admitting it was the “best day of my life, apart from getting married”.
Before his first show, Scott gave an interview to The Sun in which he was asked about his pay at the BBC, which is published each year as part of a report into the national broadcaster’s spending.
“I’ve been doing this since I was 16 and I’ll tell you how much I got paid then – £20 a show. And it was a five-hour show in the middle of the night – one until six AM,” Scott told the tabloid.
“Obviously there’s always curiosity around salaries because they get published every year. But I don’t think you can say that I haven’t played the long game. It’s not like some hotshot’s turned up and is earning all this cash.”
“No one likes discussing money,” he continued. “But here’s the thing, what you don’t get is people going, ‘Oh, I bet you’re getting paid loads’.
“What you get is people that have listened to you through school, college, uni, work, marriage, divorce, marriage again, kids. So they’re actually just full of congratulations.
“And I think the same will be true about the dreaded ‘S’ word – the salary. I don’t think anyone will be like, ‘Well, he doesn’t deserve that’. I hope people won’t think, ‘Well, he hasn’t worked very hard for that’, because I’ve worked for this my whole life.”
Last year, Scott’s breakfast show predecessor Zoe was the highest earner at the BBC, picking up around £950,000.
Scott himself previously earned just below £320,000 for his daily afternoon show.
During her final show last month, Zoe said Scott would be a “brilliant” successor, beaming: “He is going to be wonderful. I know he is.”
He also recorded a message that was played during the show, saying: “Thank you so much Zoe Ball for being our friend. It’s been an incredible six years and you really are the best of the best. Love you very much.”