Top TV stars have expressed concern for Huw Edwards after he was name as the BBC presenter at the centre of allegations (Picture: Shutterstock/Getty)
Dan Walker, Alastair Campbell and more have reacted to the announcement that Huw Edwards is the BBC presenter at the heart of the scandal engulfing the network.
On Wednesday, Edwards’s wife Vicky Flind announced in a statement that her husband was the ‘BBC presenter’ facing allegations over payments for sexually explicit images from a young person.
She said he was currently receiving in-patient treatment for ‘serious mental health issues’.
The allegations, first broken by The Sun, have been in the headlines for days, with presenters including Rylan Clark and Gary Lineker issuing statements saying their names were falsely being thrown around as being the man involved.
Now BBC presenters and other top TV stars are reacting to the veteran broadcaster being named as the until-then anonymous presenter.
Dan Walker said it was ‘an awful situation & will come as a big shock to many.’
Edwards is undergoing treatment for ‘serious’ mental health issues as an in-patient (Picture: Getty)
Dan Walker was among those sharing concern for those involved in the story (Picture: Getty)
‘Huw Edwards is clearly not in a good place at the moment and this must be terrible for his family.
‘I just hope that whoever needs help – on all sides of this – gets the time, space & support they need to heal.’
Alastair Campbell said in a long statement issued on Twitter: ‘Like virtually everyone else, I know absolutely nothing about the events that have led to the statement by Huw Edwards’ wife. But I do know that he is a superb broadcaster. I know too that he has a long history of depression. He and I have spoken about it often, including in an interview for @MensHealthUK shortly before the Queen’s death which he covered so brilliantly.
‘Precisely because he is both well known and well liked he is the perfect target for those who would undermine and indeed would like to destroy the BBC. Nobody should help them.
Alastair Campbell said he hoped Edwards was ‘getting good care’ (Picture: Channel 4)
‘The police having said no action to be taken, whatever he did or did not do is a matter for him and his family, and for the BBC. The obsession with this story has been a further sign of a media that has frankly become weird. But I hope – almost certainly in vain – that Huw and his family are given the privacy they need and to which they are entitled. And the same goes for all others involved in this story.
‘I hope he is getting good care and wish it was available to all who struggle with their mental health.’
BBC Two presenter John Simpson said he feels ‘so sorry for everyone involved in this: for the Edwards family, for the complainants and for Huw himself.’
The BBC presenter was named by his wife in a statement on his behalf (Picture: BBC)
‘No criminal offences were committed, so it’s a purely personal tragedy for everyone involved. Let’s hope the press leave them all alone now.’
Jon Sopel called it ‘an awful and shocking episode,’ saying ‘there was no ciminality, but perhaps a complicated private life. That doesn’t feel very private now.’
‘I hope that will give some cause to reflect. They really need to. I wish @thehuwedwards well.’
In a statement released to the PA news agency on Wednesday, Edwards’s wife Flind 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.’
She said that one well enough, he ‘intends to respond to the stories that have been published” and added that her husband was first told 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.’
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‘I just hope that whoever needs help – on all sides of this – gets the time, space & support they need to heal.’
