DJ Scott Mills was the BBC's highest-paid presenter before his dismissal earlier this year, earning approximately £745,000 in the financial year ending March 2026. The annual report from the corporation reveals Mills's significant salary came before his exit in March, shortly after accusations of historical sexual offences surfaced.

Mills, aged 53, fully cooperated with a police investigation into the allegations, which involved a teenager under 16 in the late 1990s. The police investigation, launched in 2016, was closed in 2019 with prosecutors deciding there was insufficient evidence to bring charges. The report states Mills was not charged.

The substantial sum earned by Mills included his tenure hosting the BBC Radio 2 breakfast show and other BBC commitments, such as the Scott Rylan's Pop: Top 10 podcast. This figure represents nearly his full annual BBC earnings as he was sacked just before the financial year concluded.

This pay packet represents a considerable increase from the previous financial year, when Mills earned £355,000 for hosting Radio 2's afternoon show for ten months and the breakfast show for two. His predecessor on the Radio 2 breakfast show, Zoe Ball, received over £1.36 million in her first year in 2019, although her earnings decreased over her six-year tenure, reaching just over £950,000 in her final full year. The BBC reportedly saved around £200,000 by replacing Ball with Mills.

Other prominent BBC stars listed among the top earners for 2025-2026 include Greg James, Stephen Nolan, Laura Kuenssberg, Vernon Kay, and Alan Shearer. Notably, Gary Lineker's earnings dropped significantly as he left the BBC part-way through the financial year.

The annual report also highlights a decline in TV licence revenue, with the number of licences in force decreasing by 539,000 in the past year. This continues a downward trend, with a total drop of two million licences since 2020-21, from 25.3 million to 23.3 million.

It is important to note that the published list of top earners is not exhaustive. Many well-known presenters, including Claudia Winkleman, Michael McIntyre, and Graham Norton, are not featured because they are paid through independent production companies rather than directly by the BBC.

Sara Cox has since taken over as the host of Radio 2's breakfast show, and the BBC has not yet announced a permanent replacement for Mills in his previous teatime slot.