Rylan Clark ‘devastated’ over close friend Scott Mills’ BBC axe
Rylan Clark is said to be ‘devastated’ after close friend Scott Mills was axed from the BBC.
The radio star was sacked by the BBC last week after it emerged the Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into the 53-year-old in 2016 over allegations of serious sexual offences involving a teenage boy under 16 between 1997 and 2000.
The police investigation was closed in 2019 after prosecutors decided there was insufficient evidence to bring charges.
And Mills’ close friends and BBC colleagues are said to be ‘shell-shocked’ over the news, and are now left with a ‘great deal of worry’.
One friend in particular is, Rylan, who has worked alongside Mills for several years and attended his wedding to husband Sam Vaughan in Barcelona 18 months ago, hailing it as the ‘best wedding ever’.
A source told the Daily Mail presenter Rylan has been left ‘devastated’ by the allegations, having worked together on Eurovision and often pairing up for BBC radio programmes.
‘Rylan and Scott are so close, they said.
‘They have done a lot of work together, but see a lot of each other socially, too. They always had each other’s backs. This will be rough for Rylan.’
In his first public statement since the news broke, released through his lawyers, the former Radio 2 breakfast host said he ‘co-operated fully’ with the police investigation into allegations of a historical sexual offence.
Mills 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 co-operated 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.
‘I wish to thank from the bottom of my heart all those who have reached out to me with kindness, my former colleagues, and my beloved listeners, who I greatly miss.’
The BBC has confirmed it knew about the police investigation into Mills in 2017, but said it ‘acted decisively’ after receiving ‘new information’ in the weeks before his sacking.
Mills was questioned under caution by officers in July 2018 and The Sun has reported that Mills denied the claims at the time and informed the BBC.
A BBC spokesperson said: ‘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 March 27.’
The BBC added: ‘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 said it ‘made a significant commitment to improve its culture, processes and standards’, and added that it set out ‘behavioural expectations for everyone who works with or for the BBC’ and was ‘clear action would be taken’ if they were not met, last year, after an independent culture review.
The corporation has also apologised for not following up after a separate allegation of ‘inappropriate communications’ by Mills was raised last year.
Metro has contacted representatives for Rylan for comment.
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