Huw Edwards was set to make an appearance on a prime time BBC show last week, but cancelled in a last minute change. The BBC News at Ten presenter was named as the man accused of allegedly paying a teenager more than £35,000 for sexually explicit pictures by his wife Vicky Flind.
Vicky Flind named her husband on Wednesday evening as the man at the centre of the allegations in a statement issued on his behalf. It came after the 61-year-old father of five was first subject to a complaint in May, as reported by The Mirror.
Huw was set to appear on the BBC One talk show on Thursday, July 6, hosts had said. At the end of Wednesday's show, presenter Alex Jones told viewers what they could expect on the next programme.
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She said: "Tomorrow Sir Lenny Henry, Huw Edwards and Katya Adler will be here. Have a lovely evening, we will see you then. Goodbye."
Despite this announcement Huw did not make an appearance on the show. He was replaced by BBC Radio 3 host Petroc Trelawny, who talked about this year's BBC Proms.
Despite his no-show, Huw still appears on the iPlayer description for Thursday's show. It 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 BBC Proms. Plus, Steve Backshall on the creatures living in our seas."
After intense speculation as to the identity of the BBC presenter at the centre of the allegations, Vicky Flind said in a statement on Wednesday that she was speaking out on her husband’s behalf after “what have been five extremely difficult days for our family”.
A BBC spokesperson 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.”
On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police confirmed detectives from the Met's Specialist Crime Command have concluded their assessment and determined there is no information to indicate a criminal offence has been committed. A statement said: "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."
The wife of newsreader Huw Edwards has said he is receiving in-patient hospital care as she named him as the BBC presenter facing allegations over payments for sexually explicit images.
The statement from his wife, a TV producer who has worked on BBC’s This Week politics show and Robert Peston’s ITV programme, Peston, to the PA news agency said: “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.
"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."
*If you are struggling with mental health, you can speak to a trained advisor from Mind mental health charity on 0300 123 3393 or email info@mind.org.uk
