BBC stars including Zoe Ball, Sara Cox and Rylan Clark are standing by sacked 'scapegoat' DJ Scott Mills over a historical allegation of serious sexual offences. For the first time, his close friends made very public shows of support towards him by posting love hearts on an Instagram picture posted by his husband Sam Vaughan in celebration of their second wedding anniversary on Monday.Zoe wrote: 'Love you [four red heart emojis]'.Rylan and Sara also posted a string of hearts. It was announced in April that Sara would replace Scott as the host of BBC Radio 2 Breakfast.Scott, 53, was sacked in March after it was discovered he had been the subject of allegations of 'serious sexual offences' against a teenage boy under 16.The allegations he faced are said to have happened between 1997 and 2000, police said, while Mills was in his mid-20s. BBC stars' show of support for Scott Mills: How Zoe Ball, Sara Cox and Rylan Clark are standing by sacked 'scapegoat' DJ, (left) over historical allegation of serious sexual offences Zoe wrote: 'Love you [four red heart emojis]' on an Instagram photo celebrating Scott's second wedding anniversary to Sam Vaughan Scott's former BBC colleagues shared their support, posting sweet messages and love hearts underneath the pictureScott and his close friend Sara have been friends and BBC colleagues for three decades, since they both started at Radio 1 within a year of one another in the late Nineties. Sara was a guest at Scott and Sam's 2024 wedding.Sara, 51, who currently hosts the station's weekday Teatime show from 4pm to 7pm, will launch her first show this summer.She said in a statement: 'There are not enough adjectives to really sum up how I'm feeling about being trusted with such an iconic show but let's start with ecstatic, honoured and incredibly chuffed.'It's been a dream to host the Breakfast Show since I joined Radio 2 and it feels like a bit of a full circle for me.'I've had the most glorious seven years of my career on Teatime so thank you to my brilliant Teatime listeners who hopefully will join me at Breakfast for excellent music and all my usual nonsense plus some superstar guests.'I honestly can't wait to wake the nation up with the biggest, most fun breakfast show ever.' Read more here.And speaking to listeners for the first time on her Radio 2 weekday Teatime show since the announcement, Sara said: 'It takes quite a lot to make me speechless, but when I got asked to host the Radio 2 Breakfast Show, I was momentarily lost for words.'Maybe that's why they asked me, was it just to shut me up! But I mean, it's always been my dream to do Breakfast, my energy has very much been waiting in the wings. Hi I am waiting in the wings gal! Can I have Breakfast please?!'But I am so glad it's happening now. I tell you what, I would not swap the last seven years of Teatime for anything. I'm going to get emotional so I got to stop that by doing this (*plays song). 'I can't get emotional over this music so it's fine. I wouldn't swap the last seven years of Teatime because I've had an absolute blast. 'It has been the most golden seven years of my entire 30-year career, and I've learnt so much from you because you're the most hilarious, brilliant listeners and I beg you – please come to Breakfast with me. Please I will send you all £5 and a clipper card.'In April, BBC Radio 2 star Jeremy Vine described Scott as a 'very popular bloke', adding that very little reasoning was given by BBC management for his sacking at the time. A source has said that Scott's husband Sam, (right), is staunchly standing by him and propping him up Mills with his BBC radio colleagues Emma B, Jeremy Vine, Dermot O'Leary, Alan Carr and Sara Cox in 2018 Scott and Sara are long-standing friends. The latter has taken the hot seat at Radio 2Vine said in contrast former BBC newsreader Huw Edwards, who pleaded guilty in 2024 to making indecent images of children, was a 'bully'.He also described Edwards as a very private and unknowable quantity, who 'didn’t really have a good word to say about anyone'.Vine said he sent Scott a message at the time of his sacking saying: 'I hold you in the highest regard and I wish you all the best.'Moreover, many members of the public seem to be standing by Scott. Britain also fell in love with him and his husband Sam when they won the BBC2 show Celebrity Race Across The World in 2024.One source said: ‘Sam has been a great source of support, and appearing by his side in public was a defiant display of loyalty.‘It must be hard when your partner is accused of a sex crime, but Sam has been a trouper, he has been amazing.‘He’s the one thing that is keeping Scott going.’ A source told Hind that ‘Sam is staunchly standing by Scott. He has been propping him up.‘It has been an absolutely devastating time for him and while to some it might seem strange that a person would stay with someone embroiled in a scandal like this, there is no chance of Sam leaving.' Read more here. Scott was questioned under caution by police in 2018 but the case was rejected by the Crown Prosecution Service in 2019 due to a lack of evidence. The BBC admitted that it knew about the allegations as far back as 2017.In May, Daily Mail's Katie Hind revealed Scott is suing the BBC after it axed him.Scott believes he was unfairly dismissed and his legal team at the London-based firm Level Law has been corresponding with the corporation, his employers for 28 years, for weeks.Friends of Mills believe he was used as a 'scapegoat' by the BBC's then outgoing director-general Tim Davie, who took a zero-tolerance approach after a string of recent scandals relating to Huw Edwards, Gregg Wallace and Jermaine Jenas.One said: 'Scott is devastated, but he is also furious. He has lost not just his job but also something he loved over a police investigation which was dropped many years ago. He has lawyers. They are aggressive, and they are determined to get justice for him.'Scott feels wronged, and there is a view that the BBC used him as a scapegoat to show that by sacking him the BBC has been cleaned up from past scandals such as Huw Edwards and Jimmy Savile.'Essentially, Scott wants to clear his name. He wants to come out and tell his story but he can't do that until the legal fight comes to a close.'Being fired has broken him. His mental health is in a very fragile place and, to him and his legal team, it feels totally unjustified, so they are fighting the BBC. There is an obvious claim for unfair dismissal here. Decisions like this ruin lives, and this one has ruined Scott's.'In an extraordinary statement issued via his lawyers to the Daily Mail the month before, Mills broke his silence to admit he was the subject of the investigation. Scott was sacked from the BBC after it was discovered he had been the subject of allegations of 'serious sexual offences' against a teenage boy under 16Lorna Clarke, Director of Music, told BBC staff in an email last month: 'I wanted to personally let you know that Scott Mills has left the Breakfast show, and the BBC. 'I know that this news will be sudden and unexpected and therefore must come as a shock.'Not least as so many of us have worked with Scott over a great many years, across a broad range of our programmes on R1, 5Live, R2 and TV. 'I felt it was important to share this news with you at the earliest opportunity.'Of course, it will also come as a shock to our audience and loyal breakfast show listeners too. I will update everyone with more information on plans for the show when I'm able to. 'While I appreciate many of you will have questions, I hope you can understand that I am not going to be saying anything.'The broadcaster said that it was not clear if BBC managers at the time of the investigation knew about the age of the boy involved in the sexual offence allegations. Current managers reportedly only became aware in preceding weeks and acted to get rid of him.They are now going through emails and HR records from the time before speaking to staff about what they knew about the Met Police investigation and whether they knew the complainant was a child. Scott broke his silence by releasing a statement to admit he was the subject of the investigation, before thanking fans and former colleagues for reaching out.He insisted he 'fully cooperated and responded' at the time of the police probe. But he did not address the allegations.His full statement read: 'The recent announcement that I am no longer contracted to the BBC has led to the publication of rumour and speculation. In response to this the Metropolitan Police has made a statement, which I confirm relates to me. 'An allegation was made against me in 2016 of a historic sexual offence which was the subject of a police investigation in which I fully cooperated and responded to in 2018. 'As the police have stated, a file of evidence was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service, which determined that the evidential threshold had not been met to bring charges.'Since the investigation related to an allegation that dates back nearly 30 years and the police investigation was closed seven years ago, I hope that the public and the media will understand and respect my wish not to make any further public comment on this matter.'I wish to thank from the bottom of my heart all those who have reached out to me with kindness, my former colleagues and my beloved listeners, who I greatly miss.'In a statement, a spokesman for the BBC said: 'Scott Mills had a long career across the BBC, he was hugely popular and we know the news this week has come as a shock and surprise to many.'What we can confirm is that in recent weeks, we obtained new information relating to Scott and we spoke directly with him. As a result, the BBC acted decisively in line with our culture and values and terminated his contracts on Friday, March 27.'The BBC has made a significant commitment to improve its culture, processes and standards. Last year, following an independent culture review, we set out the behavioural expectations for everyone who works with or for the BBC and we were clear that action would be taken if these were not met.'Separately, we can confirm the BBC was made aware in 2017 of the existence of an ongoing police investigation, which was subsequently closed in 2019 with no arrest or charge being made.'We are doing more work to understand the details of what was known by the BBC at this time.'