Huw Edwards has been named by his wife as the BBC presenter facing allegations over payments for sexually explicit images, in a shock statement issued on his behalf.
Vicky Flind said her husband, 61, was ‘suffering from serious mental health issues’ and is ‘now receiving in-patient hospital care where he will stay for the foreseeable future’ as she asked for privacy for her family.
At 6pm the BBC had said that Mr Edwards had resigned from his role but shortly after clarified he had not quit. Sources have since stressed that he has not quit the corporation.
It comes as the Metropolitan Police said this evening that no criminal offence has been committed by the BBC presenter facing allegations over payments for sexually explicit images.
It follows days of speculation after The Sun newspaper reported that an unnamed BBC presenter had allegedly paid £35,000 to a young person over the course of three years for sexually explicit photos.
Ms Flint said this evening: ‘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.
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards has been named by his wife Vicky Flind as the BBC presenter facing allegations over payments for sexually explicit images
In a statement released by Mr Edward’s wife Vicky Flind, she said that he was receiving in-patient hospital care
‘I am doing this primarily out of concern for his mental well-being and to protect our children.
‘Huw is suffering from serious mental health issues. As is well documented, he has been treated for severe depression in recent years.
‘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.
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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.’
It comes as a fourth young person came forward today to air allegations about the presenter.
Yesterday he was accused by a second young person of sending abusive messages on a dating app.
A third young person then came forward claiming they met the presenter during the third national lockdown in 2021 while the BBC was telling millions of people to follow the rules as part of its coverage of the pandemic.
And last night a fourth came forward to claim he had sent them ‘creepy’ messages using love hearts and kisses on Instagram when they were 17 years old – though it is not known if the presenter knew their age at the time.
Mr Edwards, 61, is one of the corporation’s most high-profile newsreaders, being paid over £430,000 on his current salary.
He was presented the flagship BBC News at Ten programme for more than 10 years, and continued to report more than a dozen times since the claims were allegedly first reported to the corporation on May 19.
Mr Edwards’ was facing increasing pressure from his colleagues to step forward, after BBC Radio 2 presenter Jeremy Vine called on the presenter to identify himself to stop other BBC stars from being defamed.
Mr Vine said today: ‘He should now come forward publicly. These new allegations will result in yet more vitriol being thrown at perfectly innocent colleagues of his. And the BBC, which I’m sure he loves, is on its knees with this.’
Meanwhile former BBC presenter Jon Sopel weighed in on the row yesterday afternoon – before the fourth person made their allegations – to reveal the unnamed star is ‘extremely angry’ over how the claims had been covered.
The Met Police said in as statement this evening: ‘Detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command have now concluded their assessment and have determined there is no information to indicate that a criminal offence has been committed.
‘In reaching this decision, they have spoken to a number of parties including the BBC and the alleged complainant and the alleged complainant’s family, both via another police force. There is no further police action. As such, the Met has advised the BBC it can continue with its internal investigation.
‘We are aware of media reporting of further allegations against the same individual.
‘No specific details or information about these allegations have been passed to us and therefore there is no police action at this time.
‘Should evidence of criminality or safeguarding issues be identified at any point we would expect matters to be referred to the relevant police force.’
A spokesperson for the BBC said: ‘We have seen the statement from the police confirming they have completed their assessment and are not taking further action. 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.’
More follows.
