Sara Cox replaces Scott Mills as BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show host

BBC Radio 2 star Sara Cox is the new breakfast show host after landing the job in the wake of Scott Mills being sacked

She was always the favourite to land the Radio 2 breakfast job, now Sara Cox has been announced as the new host of the nation’s biggest radio show.

She takes over from Scott Mills, who was axed amid a sex scandal which happened more than 30 years ago, involving an underage boy. The Mirror revealed this month how Scott, 53, was sacked with immediate effect by BBC bosses after not disclosing the age of the teenager to the BBC at the time the scandal was first investigated by the police, in 2018. A file was sent to the CPS but there was not enough evidence for a charge.

Sara, who currently hosts the station’s weekday teatime show, will start this summer on the breakfast show, which is the UK’s most popular radio programme, with 6.5million listeners each week. Joyful Sara said that it was the job she had always dreamed of doing. “There are not enough adjectives to really sum up how I’m feeling about being trusted with such an iconic show but let’s start with ecstatic, honoured and incredibly chuffed,” she gushed.

 

Sara Cox, seen here in during a cameo in Amandaland, has finally landed the job she always dreamed of(Image: Getty Images)

“It’s been a dream to host the Breakfast Show since I joined Radio 2 and it feels like a bit of a full circle for me. 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. I honestly can’t wait to wake the nation up with the biggest most fun breakfast show ever.”

Helen Thomas, Head of Radio 2 said she was “delighted” with the appointment. “Sara is adored by her millions of listeners at Teatime, and having regularly deputised in the slot, I already know she’ll build a brilliant rapport with the Breakfast audience and get the nation going each morning with her trademark warmth and humour. She captured the hearts of the country last November, raising a staggering £11.5m for Children in Need on her Great Northern Marathon Challenge and thoroughly deserves this gig. I can’t wait to hear her first show.”

DJ and radio presenter Trevor Nelson announced the news on BBC Radio 2, saying: “We’ve just heard the news that our very own Sara Cox will be the brand new host of the Radio 2 Breakfast Show! You are gonna smash it girl. So well deserved. Absolutely love her on radio, and she’s gonna smash it.”

Mum-of-three Sara, 51, has plenty of experience when it comes to breakfast show presenting, after fronting the Radio 1 early bird programme from 2000 to 2003, having first joined the youth station as presenter of a Saturday lunchtime show. Over the next 11 years Sara presented various programmes across the network, including the weekday afternoon show, a weekend afternoon show and weekday mornings.

Sara Cox was great pals with Scott Mills, who was dropped with immediate effect last month after behaviour that did not align with “BBC values”(Image: Alan Davidson/Shutterstock)

She joined Radio 2 in 2011 as a regular stand-in for the main presenters and launched Sounds of the 80s in 2013. In May 2018, she was a contender for the breakfast show job but lost out to Zoe Ball and instead started out on the teatime show, which proved so popular it was extended from two to three hours in 2022.

In November last year, Sara completed Sara’s Great Northern Marathon Challenge, walking and running 135 miles in five days from Kielder Forest in Northumberland to Pudsey in West Yorkshire. She raised £11.5 million for Children in Need, impressing many with her efforts.

Last month Bolton-born Sara was honoured with the Audio Presenter of the Year prize at the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards. She is also an author and released Till The Cows Come Home: A Lancashire Childhood in 2019, about her life growing up on a farm, which was followed by two novels – Thrown in 2022, and Way Back in 2024, and her latest novel The Truth Of Us is published in July.

Scott Mills’ abrupt departure in March left many listeners reeling. The Mirror has revealed that his sacking followed a complaint made about his behaviour from back in 1997-2000 when he was in his early 20s and working at Radio 1.

In a statement issued a few days after the exit of Scott, who also hosted Eurovision, a BBC spokesman told the Mirror: “Scott Mills had a long career across the BBC, he was hugely popular and we know the news this week has come as a shock and surprise to many.

“We also recognise there’s been much speculation in the media and online since Monday. 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.

“The BBC has made a significant commitment to improve its culture, processes and standards. Last year, following an independent culture review, we set out the behavioural expectations for everyone who works with or for the BBC and we were clear action would be taken if these were not met.

“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.”

Her replacement on the teatime show, which runs from 4-7pm, will be announced in due course.