BBC boss Tim Davie says it was ‘very clear’ Scott Mills had to go

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Annabel Rackham and Helen BushbyCulture reporters

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Tim Davie spent almost six years as director general of the BBC

Outgoing director general Tim Davie has ended his tenure at the BBC by saying it became “very clear” the former Radio 2 DJ Scott Mills had to be sacked, after the corporation received “new information”.

The ex-radio Breakfast host lost his job earlier this week, after the BBC learned the alleged victim in a police investigation the presenter was involved in was under 16.

“We’re trying to act fairly,” Davie said when he was asked about Mills during an all-staff call. “It was new information quite recently that we received that made it very clear about the decision we had to make.”

Davie, who became director general in September 2020, is replaced by Rhodri Talfan Davies for the next six weeks, before former Google executive Matt Brittin takes over permanently on 18 May.

Scott Mills had been the presenter of BBC Radio 2’s Breakfast show

Davie, who has spent nearly six years in the top job, said Mills’ sacking “was a real shock to the organisation”.

“When something happens where I think there’s a lot of grief, there’s a lot of shock, I think all I would say is we’re trying to act as the leadership with kindness,” he added.

BBC Breakfast’s Sally Nugent questioned him about when the organisation had learned there was a problem.

He reiterated a statement from Wednesday, which stated the BBC was made aware in 2017 of the investigation into allegations of serious sexual offences, but that new information had recently come to light that led management to sack Mills last Friday.

“I think people need to look at the statement; we made [it] as clear as we can. We obviously have to be sensitive when you’ve got personal information, and we work carefully through it, but the statement is really clear,” he said.

When asked if staff culture had changed during his tenure at the BBC, he said: “It’ll never be fully fully fixed, but I think it’s changing, I really do.”

He added: “I think if you come in and behave in a way that some of this industry saw 20 years ago, it just would not be acceptable, you want to create an environment where it’s just ludicrous to do that.”

The executive said he felt “real progress” had been made, adding: " I think the industry is kinder.

He also talked about people in senior positions in the industry “who have had a lot of power - and if they misuse it, that has not been called out, let’s face it”.

“I do think we’ve reached a point where people behaving badly now, you can see we’re not going to tolerate it,” he added.

A look back at how Tim Davie dealt with BBC scandals over the years

Davie, who took over from Lord Tony Hall, has faced a number of challenges and controversies during his time in the top job, including the BBC broadcasting a racial slur during last month’s Bafta Film Awards.

It later said it was the result of a “genuine mistake”, and is examining why it was not removed from iPlayer sooner.

The corporation also apologised last summer, after a livestream of Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury set, in which chants of “death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Force)” was available to watch on BBC iPlayer for more than four hours.

Davie was also in charge when Huw Edwards, one of the BBC’s highest paid and well-known newsreaders, pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children.

Davie resigned in November 2025, alongside head of news Deborah Turness, after criticism that a Panorama documentary misled viewers by editing a speech by US President Donald Trump.

Trump is now suing the BBC for several billion dollars, for defamation over the way Panorama spliced together his speech, which he claims made it appear he had directly encouraged his supporters to storm the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.

In March, the corporation urged a Florida court to dismiss the lawsuit, using the defence that the documentary was not available to watch in the US.

Davie also spoke about how it felt to be at the centre of a BBC controversy or crisis.

“There are days when you’re in the middle of a crisis, the snappers are outside your house… you do feel fear, and I’m not going to miss that. It’s been hard,” he said.

“Plus you’ve also got sometimes editorial mistakes - and they are mistakes, they’re not people deliberately doing stuff - that can be really tough.”

Davie steps down after more than 20 years at the corporation, having served as the 17th director general.

When asked what he was proudest of, he said it was “all the amazing creative work” produced by the organisation.

“The heartbeat of this operation is journalistic and editorially. I love the work, I love the fact this year we will be celebrating 100 years of David Attenborough - I’ve met a few [great people] in my job, but you meet David Attenborough and you go ‘ok this is it, this is the beating heart’,” he added.

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Tim Davie