Huw Edwards' wife, Vicky Flind, tonight named him as the BBC presenter at the centre of allegations relating to sexually explicit images of a young person.
The statement, issued on behalf of her husband, comes as the Metropolitan Police has said no criminal offence has been committed by the BBC presenter. Vicky Flind said the statement, which was given to PA news agency, came after what had been "five extremely difficult days" for the family.
She also said that the BBC presenter was suffering from "serious mental health issues" and was currently receiving in-patient hospital care. The full statement reads: "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. 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."
Allegations that a BBC presenter had paid a young person £35,000 for sexually explicit images, which started when they were just 17, were first published by the Sun on Friday, July 7.
Since then, the lawyer of the young person at the centre of those initial allegations has "rubbished" the claims on behalf of their client. The parents have stood by their initial claims and a since then a second person has come forward claiming to the BBC they received what they described as "threatening" messages from the presenter after meeting them on a dating app. A third young person has also reportedly come forward to claim that the BBC presenter broke lockdown rules by travelling to meet them.
