On Friday, The Sun newspaper uncovered a scandal involving a – then anonymous – BBC presenter. The information indicated that a British public television journalist had paid a minor in exchange for explicit sexual images. Without mentioning the name of the accused, speculation about the journalist’s identity ran high.
On Wednesday, the man’s wife revealed who it was: Huw Edwards, the BBC’s highest-paid news presenter. His wife, Vicky Flind, confirmed Edwards’ identity on his behalf and claimed she did so “mainly out of concern for his mental wellbeing” and to protect their five children. In a statement she explained that her husband suffers from serious mental health problems and that after the events of the last few days he is admitted to a hospital care center, where he will be for some time. He added that Edwards, 61, will provide explanations when he is better: “When he is well enough to do so, he intends to respond to the stories that have been published.”
The Sun newspaper revealed that the parents of an underage boy claimed their son had been paid up to £35,000 over three years – from when he was 17 to his current age of 20 – in exchange for sexual images that Edwards requested. With the money, the young man allegedly supported his drug addiction. It detailed that the mother of the minor saw the BBC star, of whom she herself was an admirer, in underwear “prepared for my son to act for him” in a video.
When the information first became known, another young man in his 20s contacted the BBC to report that he had received threatening messages from the same presenter through a dating app. More accusations have been added: a 23-year-old told The Sun that Edwards had breached the lockdown to meet him; and another 17-year-old revealed messages the presenter allegedly sent him on Instagram in 2019.
The journalist’s wife recalls in her statement that her husband has suffered from depression for 20 years. Culture Minister Lucy Frazer, who reports to the BBC, spoke to the corporation’s chief executive, Tim Davie, about the “disturbing allegations involving one of its presenters”, as she herself said via Twitter . “Davie has assured me that the BBC is investigating it quickly and tactfully”, wrote the conservative minister on her account on the social network. The BBC is continuing its internal investigation after police found no evidence of wrongdoing in the allegations against the presenter, who earns between £435,000 and £439,999 (€511,000 to €515,000).
Edwards began his time at the BBC in 1984, the year he joined as a trainee. Originally from Wales, he worked as a political reporter for his region before becoming the BBC’s parliamentary correspondent in Wales. In the nineties he was already a regular face on the BBC News channel, until he became for more than two decades the presenter of the evening news, the most watched in the country. Perhaps the most important moment of his television career was when he announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September.
