Yahoo News Scott Mills on 'coming to terms' with leaving Radio 1
Radio 1's Scott Mills said he is 'coming to terms' with leaving the BBC radio station, despite a period in denial about the move, which will see him start at Radio 2 in the autumn.
The presenter, who has been at the station for 24 years, and who had his last show on Thursday (August 25), told Kate Thornton on White Wine Question Time he would be taking a holiday before figuring out 'what the hell' he would be doing in his new role.
Explaining that he'd known about the planned changes for a while, the presenter and prankster said: "I feel glad that it's all out there. I'm gradually — and it does take a while — coming into terms with [leaving].
"Because, if I'm lucky, that's over a quarter of my life that I've spent there, so that's a long time."
WATCH: Scott Mills on his Radio 1 exit, his wildest on-air pranks, and what radio means to him
The 48-year-old, who has been presenting with his friend Chris Stark who he brought to the show officially in 2012, described a 'weird few months' before the news was public.
Speaking before his final show had taken place, he added: "I've got some time for a bit of reflection, to plan what the hell we're going to do on the Radio 2 show.
"I'm actually just going to go away on holiday, because I'm aware that it's been a lot over the last few months of preparing myself for the end, and then the end and everything that goes with that, after such a long time."
He described being a bit in denial for a little while but said as he started to see diary entires appear in the work calendar that he wasn't involved in, it started to sink in.
"As the weeks start to thunder by you're like: 'Okay, this is actually happening.' You start to see dates in diaries [and think]: 'Why am I not on air that day?' Oh, because I've left."
In his last show, the DJ held back tears as he received tributes from friends, family and colleagues at the station, where it was announced a studio would also be named after him.
Mills said there will be a "tone shift of sorts" as he moves over to Steve Wright's slot in the afternoons, and admitted there were some things he could do on Radio One that he "would never do on Radio 2".
But he pushed away any suggestions his show would no longer be funny.
"Here's the thing," he told Thornton. "Just because you're a bit older, you don't stop having a sense of humour. When you get to like 40 or 50, it's not like: 'Oh, I don't like funny things anymore.'"
He told Thornton about some of his favourite celebrity memories, including getting Jennifer Aniston involved in a prank against co-host Stark and countless rounds of their 'Innuendo Bingo' game, played by names including Daniel Radcliffe and Hugh Jackman.
Read more: Scott Mills shocked as BBC Radio 1 studio renamed after him during final show
He also said he had been "quite overwhelmed" by the listener responses to the news he was leaving, saying radio gave him a chance to be much more personal than television and to be involved in people's lives daily.
Calling radio his 'first love' he told Thornton he was aware he had been the soundtrack to many people's lives, just as he had grown up with radio in his own life and had dreamt of being on Radio 1.
Of the hundreds of messages he had received from fans, he said: "It's overwhelming, you sometimes don't realise when you're sat in your little box every day, having fun, which primarily is what I do.
"I love my job every single day. It's sometimes odd to think that you've had that much impact."
WATCH: Scott Mills on his Radio 1 shock, 4 days into the job
