The wife of Huw Edwards has named him as the BBC presenter facing allegations he paid a teenager for sexually explicit images.
The allegations were first reported by The Sun newspaper, who interviewed the alleged victim’s mother.
The well-known figure, who wasn’t named in the original story, was accused of paying over £35,000 (€40,944) to the person, who is now 20 years old.
It was alleged the anonymous star began the payments when the person was 17.
Following days of speculation, Huw’s wife Vicky Flind named his as the presenter facing the allegations in a statement shared on his behalf.
She said: “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 wellbeing 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.”
The 61-year-old’s wife said once he is well enough he “intends to respond to the stories that have been published”.
Ms Flind added: “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.”
Edwards is a well-known newsreader, and has fronted BBC’s News At Ten programme for the last 20 years.
Ms Flind’s statement comes after the Metropolitan Police said “there is no information” to indicate that a criminal offence had been committed by the presenter.
In a statement, they 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.”
The news comes after a lawyer for the young person at centre of the scandal claimed the allegations made by their client’s mother are “rubbish”.
