Now, Mills, who is a pantomime regular, will not be treading the boards this festive season. It had been understood he had earned approximately £600,000 over the past three years, having commanded a fee of £190,000. Imagine Theatre, which had previously booked Scott, has now confirmed there are no plans to work with him going forward. The production company revealed to The Sun that the decision had been reached before Scott was relieved of his duties at the BBC. A spokesperson said: "There were no plans to work with him this year. This decision was taken prior to this news."

Meanwhile, despite Scott being a firm favourite within the pantomime circuit, insiders suggest there is no path back to the stage for him. A source told the publication: "The panto world is really small, and everyone knows everyone. As soon as the news broke about Scott, it was all anyone was talking about, especially given he's been so popular since his debut in 2023," the Mirror.

"Scott is really close with the team at Imagine and was already in talks about taking a break, despite openly telling people about how much he loves the silliness of pantomime." The source added that Scott would, under normal circumstances, have been "courted" by other production companies, but industry figures are now wary of approaching him.

Last week, Scott released a statement through his lawyers, confirming he "co-operated fully" with police throughout their investigation. He said: "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 co-operated 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."