Mills wrote in his autobiography of his 1998 debut that he had “no personality” and spent most of his time between songs reading the station’s phone number over and over. Even so, no one called and expected to be fired within a few months. Instead, he had one of the longest tenures in Radio 1’s history. At a youth-obsessed station where presenters are generally transferred every few years – Mills, 48, is the Cristiano Ronaldo of pop radio, retaining the maximum fitness long after his old teammates have moved on to old local stations or jobs in management. But you can’t avoid Radio 2’s hand forever and Mills’ final Radio 1 show, alongside co-presenter Chris Stark, airs today before he takes over from Steve Wright at sister station next month (he says it’s his decision and that Radio 1 was willing to offer him another two-year contract). It comes a decade after Howard Stern invented the zoo radio format, where producers and other staff become on-air characters, which was brought to British radio by Chris Evans and Chris Moyles. But all of those hosts hogged the limelight, using a supporting cast of sidekicks mostly to reinforce that they were the star of the show. Mills turned it around, playing the straight man to a cast of oddballs, making stars of his team: the sardonic Chappers (now known as Mark Chapman, the host of Match of the Day 2) and assistant producer Laura, who became the focal point . of a national X-Factor-style search to find a partner. In 2012, Mills met an enthusiastic fan of the show, Chris Stark, who was DJing at Southampton’s student radio station. Stark couldn’t be more different from Mills – a lad who loved garage nights in the UK, whose majority of the family were in the military. But Mills recognized it was a flavor the station missed and fought bosses to get him on the show. The show slowly evolved from a petting zoo to a duet presentation, with Stark becoming the perfect foil. The show they created together is an endless well of creativity in an entertainment genre known for its lack of imagination (how many shows on the air basically boil down to a pop quiz, guess the year or ask?). They created a “flirt diversion” phone number that listeners could give to anyone who made weekend advances – with the resulting voicemails played on Mondays. Mills staged a musical of his life at the Edinburgh festival. A personal favorite was the relationship transfer expiration date, based on the idea that it’s too harsh to dump someone near Christmas. they’ve turned December 10 into a day of ditching an unwanted mate, with a complete spoof of Sky Sports News’ coverage of the football transfer deadline, with celebrity correspondents covering last-minute dumping. Their biggest hit, “innuendo bingo” – where celebrities fill their mouths with water, rude clips from BBC radio are played and have to try not to laugh – has become a global hit on YouTube. Movie guest stars such as Will Ferrell, Hugh Jackman and Daniel Radcliffe have all made appearances. Mills came out as gay in 2001 in an interview with the Guardian, reflecting the nervousness surrounding the announcement at the time. We wrote that it was “better to manage than to be forced by a tabloid hound” and Mills suggested “the climate has changed, even in the last five years”, so he felt listeners wouldn’t be too confused, but promised not to be too noisy about his sexuality wearing “pink shirts”. Mills wasn’t the first openly gay DJ on the station, the late Kevin Greening was a pioneer in that regard. But Greening’s run at the station was hosting segments at Gay Pride events, while Mills was quietly rebellious by being open about his sexuality but not being defined as a gay DJ. Or, as he put it, “accepted as a normal guy who’s gay and is on the radio.” This wasn’t always easy: Chris Moyles used to play Mills in a high-pitched female voice, though he stopped when asked by Mills. But years later, when Mills was joined by Nick Grimshaw and Adele Roberts – so that half of Radio 1’s daily line-up was LGBT+ – it had become the norm and never noticed. Being a radio DJ is easy enough to do well and extremely difficult to do brilliantly. Mills himself isn’t painfully funny or intoxicatingly charismatic, but what he’s made is greater than the sum of his parts. Unusually for a DJ, he’s a great listener – instantly picking up on what his team or listeners are saying with a quick remark or pointed question. This week the show was flooded with tearful messages about how much the show meant to people who went to school and university, got married, lost parents and went through hard times while listening to the show. I have to put myself in that camp – in times of feeling lonely and disconnected, especially during the pandemic, it was a place that felt like home. Will miss.
