Huw Edwards named by his wife as BBC presenter accused of paying teen for explicit pictures

The BBC presenter who allegedly paid a teenager more than £35,000 for sexually explicit pictures has been named as Huw Edwards.

He was named by his wife Vicky Flind in a statement issued on his behalf.

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She said her husband 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.

Ms Flind further said that once her husband was “well enough to do so” he intends to respond to the allegations, which she says he was first told about last Thursday.

At 6pm, the BBC said he had resigned but shortly afterwards clarified that he had not quit.

The revelation the presenter at the centre of the allegations was Edwards came shortly after the Metropolitan Police revealed there was “no information to indicate that a criminal offence has been committed”.

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After the Metropolitan Police said it would take no further action, a spokesperson for the BBC said: “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 corporation later added that Edwards was facing “yet more allegations of inappropriate behaviour” towards colleagues at the BBC.

South Wales Police then also issued a statement saying they had also investigated allegations and had found no evidence of any criminal offences being committed.

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Edwards, 61, is one of the corporation’s most high-profile newsreaders and is currently on a salary of just over £430,000.

He has presented the flagship BBC News at Ten programme more than a dozen times since the claims were allegedly reported to the corporation on 19 May.

Home editor

This evening’s developments are the biggest since the story first broke, our home editor Jason Farrell says.

The biggest, of course, is that Huw Edwards has finally been named.

“Perhaps now the general public can understand why the media has been obsessing about this story for quite a long time,” Farrell says.

“They’ve known really who this is about.”

Farrell points out Edwards is the “face of the BBC”, having anchored the News at Ten for 20 years, and has been there during “key moments in our history”.

He says the presenter has “talked about having bouts of depression before” but has “always looked professional” and been a “real presence” on the BBC.

As for the Met Police’s decision not to look into the matter further, Farrell says we “saw that coming”.

This is partly because the young person at the centre of the allegations had called them “rubbish”, and partly because the police had previously decided not to take the matter further.

Farrell says the conclusion there was no criminality will be a “huge relief” for Edwards.

Edwards has previously spoken about his mental health, telling BBC Radio Cymru in 2019 that he was “mentally in the wrong place” when he was physically “unhealthy”.

He also revealed in a documentary in 2021 he had bouts of depression which have left him occasionally “bedridden” since 2002.

The Sun newspaper claimed a “household name” had been accused of giving a young person more than £35,000.

Edwards allegedly first requested images in 2020 when the young person was 17.

The presenter also faced allegations that he stripped to his underwear during a video call with the youth, who is now aged 20.

The young person’s mother said she was “shocked” when her child showed her a screenshot of the presenter appearing to be “leaning forward, getting ready for my child to perform for him”.

The BBC has suspended Edwards and said it “takes any allegations seriously” and has “robust internal processes in place to proactively deal with such allegations”.

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The young person’s family approached The Sun after becoming frustrated that Edwards was still on air a month after they had complained.

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