The BBC news anchor who announced Queen Elizabeth’s death has been named as the man at the centre of a sexting scandal.
Huw Edwards, 61, is one of the most recognisable faces on British television. Now, he has confirmed that he is the man who has been in the news for the wrong reasons recently.
Up until now, his identity was kept out of the papers due to privacy laws.
Edwards was at the desk for the September 8 announcement that the late Queen had died at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, and helmed all of the BBC’s coverage of her September 19 funeral.
He also helped host the BBC’s coverage of King Charles’ coronation in May, according to a report by People.
In a statement, Edwards’ wife Vicky Flind said, “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,” the statement continued. “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,” she said. “Once well enough to do so, he intends to respond to the stories that have been published.”
Flind added, “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 BBC also released its own statement: “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.”
The story of the private life of the broadcaster has been front page news in the U.K. since last weekend when The Sun broke the news of claims that he’d paid £35,000 (roughly $45,500 in the U.S.) to a young person for sexual pictures over several years.
The story was based on an interview with the person’s mother and stepfather, who said that the payments were fueling their child’s drug use and that the contact began when the young person was 17.
But The Sun had not spoken to the young person concerned. and then, on Monday evening, a lawyer for the young person came forward and told the BBC that “nothing inappropriate” had happened.
In fact, the lawyer said the young person had contacted The Sun a few days earlier to inform them of that.
“For the avoidance of doubt, nothing inappropriate or unlawful has taken place between our client and the BBC personality and the allegations reported in the Sun newspaper are rubbish,” the lawyer wrote, said the BBC.
On Tuesday, there was more damaging news for Edwards, however. The BBC was approached by another person, aged 20, who — after being in contact with Edwards via a dating app — claimed that the presenter had been abusive in some messages when they threatened to go public.
Then, later on Tuesday, The Sun made fresh claims, saying that another person had come forward saying that the presenter broke COVID lockdown rules by meeting a then 23-year-old after making contact on a dating site.
As the stories swirled, other prominent male presenters said it wasn’t them, while one — Jeremy Vine — even called on his colleague to reveal himself while the presenter’s name emerged on social media accounts.
Edwards, who is married with five children, was born in Bridgend, Wales. He has spent almost his professional life at the BBC, which he joined from a local radio station in Swansea. He now earns up to £439,000 ($570,000), the latest figures from the BBC — revealed on Tuesday — show.