SIXTY SECONDS
THE RADIO AND TV PRESENTER, 47, ON SUPPORTING AN MS CAMPAIGN, MEETING TAYLOR SWIFT’S DAD AND THE BRIDGE WITH HIS NAME
How did you get involved with the Team Stop MS campaign?
MS has really affected my life in two different ways – through my mum, who got diagnosed in 2007 and has primary progressive MS, and through my friend Beccy [Huxtable], who used to be on my Radio 1 breakfast show with me, who was almost diagnosed on air. She’d had a buzzing sensation all week and hundreds of people texted in, going, ‘It sounds like MS.’ So I took her to the doctor and, sure enough, it was relapsing remitting MS. I think people often think it’s something older people get, and they do, but Beccy was 30. So I’ve been an ambassador for the MS Society for almost ten years now. In the past 18 months charities have not been having a good time, so I want to spread the word.
You did a great film for Team Stop MS with the likes of Kit Harington and Andy Serkis…
Yeah, and a bit of Ainsley Harriott! I’d never met Kit, so that was quite cool, and Ainsley, I know him to say hi to. They’re at breakthrough point for primary progressive MS where they can slow its progress. If they can raise £100million – and they’re halfway there – they can do that. At the moment, there’s zero treatment.
Can you believe you’re on three radio stations?
That blows my mind. Radio 1 with Chris [Stark] I still look forward to every day. Then, when they said, ‘Do you want to do a show on Radio 5 Live?’ I was like, ‘Have you called the right person?’ But they just wanted an entertainment Saturday-morning vibe like Live And Kicking or Going Live. My mum would never listen to me on Radio 1, she hates the music and she should – she’s 68. But she really likes listening to the 5 Live show because it’s just fun. There’s no work. People are taking their kids to rugby or football. So you can listen to it without having to be heavily into sport, or the presenter having to be heavily into sport, which is handy because I’m not.
That’s one of the reasons you and Chris work so well together, isn’t it?
Yeah. It comes from genuine friendship – we met when he was the resident DJ at Southampton University, where he was studying at the time. Even back then he was like your everyman with his Watford shirt and funny way of seeing life and telling stories.
If you’re eating a kangaroo anus, that’s easier than attempting to do a foxtrot
What do you think of Nick Grimshaw’s replacements, Jordan North and Vick Hope?
I think it’s great. The thing is, now everyone’s seen Jordan be sick on a cliff on I’m A Celebrity so they know exactly what he’s like. I was really glad he did that show because it showed what a scatty guy he is. He reminds me of me when I was 25! I’m sad about Grimmy, though, because he’s someone I see every day and one of the funniest people I know.
Would you do any other reality shows?
I was asked to do the SAS one but no, that’s too much for me. I’d just cry. The jungle, I think they asked me years ago but I was like, ‘No!’ But then I did Strictly and once you’ve done that, even if you’re eating a kangaroo anus, that’s still easier than attempting to do a foxtrot in front of 50 million people if you can’t do it. I think it was Craig or Bruno who said they believed you could teach anyone to dance until now. It was the best time of my life but I just don’t have it.
Who have you not interviewed that you’d love to?
I’ve got through a lot of people but I’ve never actually interviewed Taylor Swift and I’d really like to. Weirdly, at Big Weekend in Norwich a few years ago, she headlined and I spent a fair amount of time with her dad, Scott Swift. I remember him having a very firm handshake. I think he’s a businessman – you can just tell. She’s obviously rerecorded all of her music and taken back a bit of control, and I’d be fascinated to pick her brains on that and the music industry right now.
Do you really have a bridge named after you on the M3?
Yes, about five or six years ago, Chris had a weird idea on the show. He was like, ‘When you leave Radio 1, what’s your legacy?’ – a tongue-in-cheek thing. So then Fleet Services got in touch and said, ‘If you want, we’ll call the bridge connecting both sides of Fleet Services the Scott Mills Bridge, which is slightly past its best.’ And they actually did. The sad news is they’ve done a refurb and now there’s only one plaque with my name on it, which I believe is on the westbound side, so it’s a shadow of what it was. But the best thing of all is if you go on Google Maps and search ‘Scott Mills Bridge’, it comes up.
Do you think you’ll stay at Radio 1 forever?
It feels like I already have! I’ve just signed a new contract so I’ve no plans to move right now. I think as long as you can keep up with what’s going on with its audience, and as long as you are enjoying it and having fun, then you’re good.