Rylan Clark has denied claims he’s the BBC presenter who has been accused of paying a teen for sexually explicit photos.
The presenter, who remains anonymous, is said to be a well-known figure and has been accused of paying over £35,000 (€40,944) to the person, who is now 20 years old.
The anonymous star allegedly began the payments when the teen was 17.
The teen’s mother alleged that the money sent to them was used to fund a drug addiction, which made them go from “a happy go lucky youngster to a ghost-like crack addict.”
She told The UK Sun: “When I see [the presenter] on telly I feel sick. I blame the BBC for destroying my child’s life. Taking my child’s innocence and handing over the money for crack cocaine that could kill my child.”
A host of well-known faces have since come out to deny claims that they’re the BBC presenter in question – including Rylan Clark.
Taking to Twitter, the former X Factor contestant wrote: “Not sure why my names floating about but re that story in the sun- that ain’t me babe. I’m currently filming a show in Italy for the bbc, so take my name out ya mouths.”
Not sure why my names floating about but re that story in the sun- that ain’t me babe. I’m Currently filming a show in Italy for the bbc, so take my name out ya mouths pic.twitter.com/6lZo45U6Pe
— R Y L A N (@Rylan) July 8, 2023
Gary Lineker also denied claims he was the BBC presenter in question, saying: “Hate to disappoint the haters but it’s not me.”
Elsewhere, Jeremy Vine, who hosts a show on BBC Radio 2, tweeted: “Just to say I’m very much looking forward to hosting my radio show on Monday.”
“Whoever the ‘BBC presenter’ in the news is, I have the same message for you as Rylan did earlier: it certainly ain’t me.”
In response to The UK Sun’s initial report, a BBC spokesperson said: “We treat any allegations very seriously and we have processes in place to proactively deal with them.”
“As part of that, if we receive information that requires further investigation or examination we will take steps to do this. That includes actively attempting to speak to those who have contacted us in order to seek further detail and understanding of the situation.”
“If we get no reply to our attempts or receive no further contact that can limit our ability to progress things but it does not mean our enquiries stop.”
“If, at any point, new information comes to light or is provided – including via newspapers – this will be acted upon appropriately, in line with internal processes.”
