Speculation has been building in the U.K. about the identity of a “well-known” BBC presenter, described as a “household name,” accused in a report from The Sun of paying an underage teenage boy approximately £35,000 (approximately $60,000 Canadian) for explicit photos.
The guessing game in recent days has become so widespread that several U.K. television personalities have issued statements to insist it’s not them.
On Wednesday, Variety reported that the mystery man’s identity was revealed to be BBC News anchor Huw Edwards, one of organization’s most senior on-air personalities.
Edwards was revealed to be the accused in a statement issued by his wife, Vicky Flint.
“In light of the recent reporting regarding the ‘BBC Presenter’ I am making this statement on behalf of my husband Huw Edwards, after what have been five extremely difficult days for our family. I am doing this primarily out of concern for his mental well-being and to protect our children,” Flint said in her statement.
“Huw is suffering from serious mental health issues. As is well documented, he has been treated for severe depression in recent years,” Flint continued..
“The events of the last few days have greatly worsened matters, he has suffered another serious episode and is now receiving in-patient hospital care where he’ll stay for the foreseeable future. Once well enough to do so, he intends to respond to the stories that have been published,” the statement added.
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“To be clear Huw was first told that there were allegations being made against him last Thursday. In the circumstances and given Huw’s condition I would like to ask that the privacy of my family and everyone else caught up in these upsetting events is respected. I know that Huw is deeply sorry that so many colleagues have been impacted by the recent media speculation. We hope this statement will bring that to an end,” the statement concluded.
The accusations came from the boy’s mother; however, The Times of London subsequently reported that a lawyer representing the teenager issued a statement denying his mother’s claims, insisting that “nothing inappropriate or unlawful has taken place between our client and the BBC personality and the allegations reported in The Sun newspaper are rubbish.”
Following that statement, the BBC released a statement saying the police had decided not o investigate due to a lack of evidence, but that the corporation would be resuming its own internal investigation.
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“We have seen the statement from the police confirming they have completed their assessment and are not taking further action,” a BBC spokesperson said. “We’re grateful to them for completing this work at speed. The police had previously asked us to pause our fact finding investigations and we will now move forward with that work, ensuring due process and a thorough assessment of the facts, whilst continuing to be mindful of our duty of care to all involved.”
