She married Gilbert (Bert) Mills, who worked for London Transport, in February 1947[3] and they settled in Loughton, Essex, where she lived for most of her life.

[1] While working as the superintendent of a typing pool in the office of the Paymaster General in London, Mills performed as a honky-tonk pianist in the evenings and weekends.

[1] She was spotted by a talent scout while playing piano with a semi-professional band called The Astorians, at a dance at the Woodford Golf Club in Essex.

Mills was also a successful recording artist overseas in territories with large numbers of economic migrants from the UK, such as Australia, Canada and Hong Kong.

The sketch, titled "Family Entertainment – John & Mrs Mills", occupied the end-of-the-show musical slot in episode 4 of the fourth series.

[6] The piano, with a characteristic out-of-tune honky-tonk sound, has remained in use at Abbey Road for over 50 years and was used in countless recordings made there, including some by The Beatles.

[8] Eddie Vedder's 2022 album, Earthling, contains a song called "Mrs. Mills" about the piano, featuring Ringo Starr on drums.

[11] On 13 July, they were filmed playing live at The Prince Albert pub in Brixton, London Borough of Lambeth by the BBC.