Zoe Ball's stark warning to Scott Mills when he took over BBC Radio 1 job
Scott Mills has revealed that Zoe Ball gave him a stark warning before he replaced her on BBC Radio 2, telling him: 'It's a lot - you've always got to be on.'
Scott, 52, was unveiled as the new Breakfast Show host last year after the shock news Zoe was stepping down after six years at the Radio 2 helm. And in spite of more than two decades of experience on the airwaves, he admitted he still struggles with the pressure to deliver the best show possible. Scott told the Mirror: 'The show is a lot, it's hard work. It's a treadmill every day.
'I remember when Zoe finished, she said to me: 'Look, doing breakfast on Radio 2 is quite a lot. It's quite demanding, and you've just always got to be on.' She was right. The amount of guests we have - it's continuous. When she said it to me, I was like: 'I'm ready'. And I am, it's my happy place.
'But of course there's pressure. I think that if you're not feeling any pressure, then you probably shouldn't be doing that job. But that's good. I want to be at the top of my game, and I have that inbuilt into me, I always put pressure on myself. I'm not getting mad pressure from the bosses at all, far from it. But I want to do the best show I can possibly do.
'There is an old saying - I don't know if it's an acting phrase - but it's basically: 'You're only as good as your last show.' And I know it's quite old school, but I do think that. If I've had a bad show - for reasons a listener maybe wouldn't even notice, like maybe I tripped over my words - I really get annoyed. You can get beaten up about it.'
Scott has opened up in the past about his struggles with mental health, admitting he grappled with intense anxiety and depression as a young man. And speaking this week on new Mercedes-Benz Vans podcast Under the Bonnet, he revealed he still experiences dark periods - but uses exercise to help him cope.
Scott, who is hosting the podcast, said: 'Exercise is definitely something I lean into to help my mental health. I've really noticed when I don't do it. Now at school, I was the last to be picked at sport - it's not my thing, but it's not about that. It's about that feeling I get after I've been, it's a bit of a high that you get. And it's (exercise) what I try to do now after the Breakfast Show, because I've been in some low places before with depression and anxiety over the years.
'Thankfully not in recent years, but I know if a dark time is coming - you can just feel it. So I honestly believe that exercise has helped me know, and I make time for it.'
The Under the Bonnet podcast is the UK's first exclusively for van drivers. The series, recorded in a specially adapted Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van, has been launched to celebrate 30 years of the Sprinter and discuss the Under the Bonnet report, which shows how van drivers have become a barometer for modern Britain.
The report has found that the average van driver has less than five conversations a day, compared to the average person's 27 conversations. And 80% credited improvements in their mental health to team sport.
Scott went on: 'I could really relate to that because of my own experiences. Some of the drivers I spoke to were telling me about being on the road for 20 hours at a time, and how lonely they felt.
'And it reminded me of when I was working my way up in radio, as a presenter. My first job was on radio in Southampton when I was 16 and then I got asked by a radio station in Bristol if I wanted to go there. So I moved to Bristol not knowing one person. And apart from when I was recording my show, I spent all of my time completely on my own. And then I moved from Bristol to Manchester and I mean, I'd never been north of Birmingham - I was a proper Southerner.
'So once again, you uproot your life, you rent a flat and you don't know anyone. And this is, like, early 1990s, so mobiles weren't really a thing. You weren't really in touch with people, you know, day-to-day. I can remember my Mum coming to visit me, and crying because I was so lonely. She asked if I was going to put a Christmas tree up, and I told her I would, but that no-one would see it. It was a very isolating time.
"I made those moves to better my career, but at the back of my head I was always thinking: 'At what cost?' Obviously, it's all worked out great, but you don't know that as you're doing it. Now people will say to me: 'Oh, you're on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show,' but they don't realise that I've spent years trying to get up that ladder.
"To be honest, it still blows my mind that this has happened to me. It's been a wild four months since I took over the show, and we're only just getting started.'
Off the airwaves, Scott is also celebrating his first wedding anniversary this month, after he married husband Sam Vaughan last year.
And revealing plans to whisk Sam away to celebrate at their Spanish wedding venue, he told how their partnership works because they help each other.
He went on: 'Our first year has been great. And I'll tell you why it's been great, because it's just so easy. Me and him are just a great team - we just help each other out all the time, which is the way it should be. It's been a busy time lately, with Eurovision, etc.
'But I love it, and I love coming home after bonkers days, and everything just being calm and normal - that peace of mind that someone is always there for you. I adore it.
'We were chatting about this last night, and I was like: 'That's been a pretty good first year of marriage.' And I mean, it's whipped by - it's gone by in a flash.
'This weekend I am taking him back to the place where we got married - in Spain. So he doesn't know this yet, but tomorrow, we are going there.
'Right now, I'm the happiest I've ever, ever, ever, ever been. I really feel like all the stars have aligned for me, and I couldn't be happier. I'm literally having a ball.'
Scott Mills is hosting the Mercedes-Benz Vans podcast Under the Bonnet, the UK's first podcast exclusively for van drivers. The podcast has been launched to mark the 30th anniversary of the Sprinter van and to discuss the findings of the Under the Bonnet report.
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