Huw Edwards was supposed to be on The One Show, but at the last minute, his show was cancelled.
The BBC News reporter, who is 61 years old, was named by his wife, Vicky Flind, as the person who had been accused, among other things, of paying a young person for explicit pictures.
She said in a statement that the experienced journalist, who has been open in the past about his struggle with depression, has “serious mental health issues” and is now getting care in a hospital, where he will stay for the foreseeable future.
Edwards was supposed to be on The One Show last Thursday, July 6. However, on that day, the BBC said they got new complaints about the host, which were “of a different type” than the ones they got in May.
Alex Jones, the host of the long-running talk show, told fans at the end of Wednesday’s (July 5) episode that Sir Lenny Henry, Huw Edwards, and Katya Adler would be on the show the next day. Have a great night, and we’ll see you tomorrow. Goodbye.’
On BBC iPlayer at the time of writing, Thursday’s episode description reads: ‘Alex Jones and Roman Kemp speak to Sir Lenny Henry about his new children’s book. Huw Edwards and Katya Adler tell us what we can expect from this year’s Proms. Plus, Steve Backshall on the creatures living in our seas.’
But Edwards didn’t show up on the episode. Instead, Adler, 51, was joined by Petroc Trelawny, another BBC Proms host, to talk about the yearly classical music event.
The Metropolitan Police said on Wednesday that Edwards hasn’t done anything illegal, and they haven’t been given any specific details or information about the other claims that have been in the news.
The Sun, which published the first claim, said it doesn’t plan to print any more and will help the BBC with its internal probe.
The station said it will continue its “fact-finding investigations” into Edwards. This comes after a current and a former BBC employee said they had received “inappropriate” texts from Edwards, some of which were sent late at night and ended with kisses, according to BBC Newsnight.
Both of them said that junior staff were afraid to speak to managers about the behaviour of high-profile coworkers for fear that it would hurt their jobs.
Following the family statement, BBC Director-General Tim Davie said in a note to staff it is ‘important’ that the work on the internal investigation continues, adding: ‘I want to be clear that in doing so we will follow due process.’
He also stressed that the corporation’s ‘immediate concern is our duty of care to all involved.’
Dan Walker, Jon Sopel, and Alistair Campbell, among others, have spoken out since then to show their worry for Edwards. Piers Morgan also talked about the problem on his TalkTV show.
Describing Edwards as a ‘stand up guy,’ Morgan said: ‘Clearly Huw Edwards is now in a very serious situation. He probably feels like he’s losing everything.
‘Whatever the outcome of the investigation, it would be inhuman not to think about the impact of all this on him, on his family, on his mental health, all of those are important things to consider now.’
The One Show is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
Need support?
For emotional support you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.
If you’re a young person, or concerned about a young person, you can also contact PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide UK. Their HOPELINK digital support platform is open 24/7, or you can call 0800 068 4141, text 07860039967 or email: pat@papyrus-uk.org between the hours of 9am and midnight.
