The BBC’s biggest scandals from Scott Mills to Strictly and MasterChef

It has been a brutal couple of years for the BBC after facing one crisis after another, with yet another one at its doorstep.

Director-general Tim Davie is set to leave the corporation at the start of April after five years at the helm of the broadcaster, where he’s fielded numerous controversies.

Among these have included John Torode and Gregg Wallace getting fired from MasterChef, only weeks before Repair Shop presenter Jay Blades was charged with serious offences.

At the tail end of last year, there were accusations that a top female star at the BBC, as yet unnamed, flashed an unwanted d**k pic to a horrified junior staffer, per The Sun.

Last year, the national broadcaster also dealt with the revelations surrounding disgraced presenter Huw Edwards, a series of allegations towards their Strictly pros, and Jermaine Jenas’ immediate dismissal.

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Now, veteran broadcaster Scott Mills’ shock removal following a complaint over a historic police investigation has rocked the corporation.

Here’s a rundown on what the BBC has faced over the past few years.

Scott Mills

Now, new details have come to light, and it’s understood the media personality was abruptly removed after a complaint regarding a police investigation into ‘serious sexual offences against a boy under 16’.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed in a statement: ‘In December 2016, the Met began an investigation following a referral from another police force.

‘The investigation related to allegations of serious sexual offences against a teenage boy.

‘A full file of evidence was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service, who determined the evidential threshold had not been met to bring charges.

Following this advice, the investigation was closed in May 2019.’
A man in his 40s was questioned by police under caution in July 2018.

The allegations, which did not result in any charges, were reported to have taken place between 1997 and 2000.

Mills is yet to publicly respond to the circumstances around his exit from the national broadcaster.

BBC Panorama Donald Trump documentary

Featured in the Panorama episode ‘Trump: A Second Chance’, a clip of Trump’s speech appeared to show him telling supporters he was going to walk to the Capitol with them to ‘fight like hell,’ although the quotes were made in a different part of the speech, 50 minutes apart.

The issue began to unravel after a memo, sent to the BBC editorial standards committee, raised concerns over the way Trump’s speech on January 6 during the Capitol riots was edited.

The Panorama episode came out just a week before the US elections last year.

Critics have accused the Panorama video of being misleading as the clip did not include Trump’s words that he wanted to supporters at the Capitol to protest peacefully.

The US president accused the BBC and its bosses of trying to ‘step on the scales of a presidential election.’
Joining Davie in bowing out was also the CEO of news, Deborah Turness, who announced her resignation on Sunday evening as well.

Since then, Trump has sent a letter to the BBC with a threat of legal action.

MasterChef

Several high-profile names who worked alongside him during his career spoke up, such as Kirsty Wark, with a total of 13 people raising concerns over 17 years.

Wallace was suspended from the show (with Irish chef Anna Haugh stepping in to finish filming on the latest series) pending an external investigation commissioned by the production company Banijay.

The investigation lasted several months, during which the food show host expressed that the toll of the situation had driven him to consider taking his own life.

In the meantime, Wallace was replaced by Grace Dent in the Celebrity spin-off alongside which she filmed opposite Torode.

In July, the bombshell Silkins review confirmed that 45 out of 83 allegations against Wallace had been upheld, including an instance of ‘unwanted physical contact’ leading to Wallace threatening legal action against the BBC.

After Wallace was officially removed, a substantiated racial language allegation against Torode also led to his removal, with it later being revealed that he had used the N-word twice.

The BBC decided to air the pre-filmed MasterChef season featuring both sacked presenters, saying it was the ‘right thing to do’ for the amateur contestants.

The broadcaster’s decision has been criticised by fans, especially after one female contestant agreed to be edited out after coming out against airing the series.

Since then, Penny Lancaster has detailed her time on MasterChef when she felt ‘bullied’ by Wallace.

The BBC has also confirmed Saturday Kitchen host Matt Tebbutt will replace him in MasterChef: The Professionals.

Strictly Come Dancing

Issues started arising after 2023 contestant Amanda Abbington, who was partnered with pro Giovanni Pernice, quit Strictly shortly into her time on the show.

After months of rumours accusing Pernice of toxic behaviour in his teaching on the show – which the dancer denied – he was removed from the lineup.

In July 2024, Abbington accused Pernice of ‘unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean’ behaviour and creating a ‘toxic environment’ which prompted the BBC to launch a probe.

The review concluded there were no findings relating to physical aggression, but six complaints of verbal bullying and harassment were upheld against him.

The same month, it was revealed that fellow pro Graziano Di Prima had departed from Strictly after allegations he was ‘physically and verbally abusive’ towards his former dance partner, Zara McDermott.

Both dancers have now been replaced for the upcoming season.

Meanwhile, Strictly star Wynne Evans became embroiled in his own scandal after he was axed from the Strictly Live Tour after comments made towards married tour host Janette Manrara, insinuating a ‘spit roast’.

‘We have made it very clear to Wynne that we do not tolerate such behaviour on the tour,’ a spokesperson told the BBC at the time.

How has the BBC been impacted by these scandals and what should it do next?

PR and social media expert Rhea Freeman spoke to Metro about the impact of these scandals.

‘So much reputational damage can be done to people based on Chinese whispers, and I think sometimes people forget there are real people at the end of it.

‘However, the BBC has been under intense scrutiny for a number of its shows, and its stars over the past few months, and this will not help its reputation.

If I were working with the BBC, I would advise honesty while staying to the guidelines.

‘Explain the process, explain the policies being reviewed/reiterate policies in place to manage this behaviour, explain you want to hear from people who have concerns.

‘The temptation can be to hide away when things are going wrong, but people (and social media) can fill the void and before you know it, fiction is being quoted as fact.

There’s a line to walk, but silence, in my opinion at least, isn’t part of it.’
Just as the dust has settled on this string of problems, a new external investigation has been launched – this time into the use of cocaine by two Strictly stars and drinking on the show by one of them.

The claims were reportedly made in March by law firm Russells, on behalf of former contestant and opera singer Wynne Evans.

In a statement to Metro, a BBC spokesperson said: ‘We do not recognise these claims and any suggestion that anyone has been asked to monitor an individual is completely untrue.’
In September, EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick was then axed by the BBC following his scandal on Strictly.

The 31-year-old was sensationally fired by the BBC after using a disabled slur.

Jay Blades

In September, he was charged with controlling and coercive behaviour towards Zbozen and entered a not guilty plea at Worcester Crown Court a month later.

Earlier this month, it was separately confirmed by police that he had been charged with two counts of rape and is due to appear at Telford magistrates’ court on August 13.

A day later, the 55-year-old once more appeared in Worcester Crown Court for a preliminary hearing on a charge of controlling or coercive behaviour.

The BBC previously confirmed to Metro that Blades is not currently filming The Repair Shop, and the BBC is currently not going to be scheduling any programmes in which he is featured, but content that already features Blades will remain on BBC iPlayer.

Jermaine Jenas

After the complaints came out, he admitted to sending these messages to two ‘consenting’ BBC co-workers but said there were ‘two sides to every story’ and he was going to seek legal action.

In a recent interview, he called it ‘sexting’ but reiterated there was ‘nopower element to it going on’ – adding that he was going through a rough patch with his wife.

‘I dealt with it wrong and got heavily punished for it by losing pretty much everything that I had at that time,’ he said.

Huw Edwards

After ongoing speculation over what Edwards had been accused of, in September, he was handed a six-month jail sentence suspended for two years after admitting to three charges of making indecent images of children.

He issued a guilty plea at Westminster Magistrates’ Court after convicted paedophile Alex Williams sent him illegal images on WhatsApp.

As well as completing a sex offender programme he has now been placed on the registry for seven years, which means he has to notify police of his whereabouts.

In May, BBC Chairman Samir Shah issued a personal plea to Edwards to return the £200,000 to the broadcaster, which he received after his arrest.

Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty

This week, it has been reported that long-term presenter Charlie Stayt is ‘under review’ by the broadcaster after a number of complaints were said to be made against him.

The culture at the flagship morning show is understood to be under review by an HR adviser from consultancy firm PwC after bullying allegations were levelled against co-host Naga Munchetty earlier this year.

Editor of BBC Breakfast, Richard Frediani was also subject to similar claims and took an extended period of leave from which he has now returned after an external investigation.

Deadline reported that a minimum of two misconduct complaints had been made against Frediani, with one alleging that the editor had physically shook a colleague during an interaction.

Meanwhile, Munchetty was believed to be in talks to move over to LBC, with the latest reports claiming the Beeb is planning to put both hosts under formal investigation.

A version of this article was first published on August 8, 2025.
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