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Jeremy Vine has voiced concern for Huw Edwards on his show, but viewers are calling him ‘hypocritical.’
It was claimed a BBC star offered a teenager more than £35,000 for explicit photographs.
A second young person then claimed to have received ‘threatening messages’ from Edwards, while a third alleged that he had broken lockdown rules to meet them.
A fourth young person, who is now 22, claims they were sent messages containing love heart emojis and kisses by the presenter.
Following the allegations Vine encouraged the then-anonymous person to come forward.
The 58-year-old tweeted: ‘I’m starting to think the BBC Presenter involved in the scandal should now come forward publicly.
‘These new allegations will result in yet more vitriol being thrown at perfectly innocent colleagues of his. And the BBC, which I’m sure he loves, is on its knees with this. But it is his decision and his alone.’
Yesterday, Edwards, 61, was named as the person at the centre of the BBC scandal by his wife Vicky Flind.
Edwards was named as the BBC presenter (Picture: Richard Gardner/REX/Shutterstock)
Vicky Flind’s statement in full, on behalf of her husband Huw Edwards
‘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.’
Speaking on his self-titled Channel 5 show, Vine, who has a BBC Radio 2 show, has now criticised The Sun, who originally broke the story.
‘You have to be certain before running something that destroys a man. It now looks like he, very sadly, is in a terrible way.’
He then questioned if the publication has ‘photos or screenshots of the stuff they said existed.’
‘I’m now thinking those allegations may be false. That is a very important thought. Now we have a man who is in apparently in a very devasted mental health condition. The story at the centre we don’t have enough evidence for.
‘I wonder if we are heading for the mother of all libel actions.
Vine was criticised by some viewers (Picture: Channel 5)
‘I wonder if this is going to end badly for The Sun. It could be one of those cases that changes the press,’ he concluded.
The panel, which included Anne Widdecombe, also discussed how Edwards should now be given privacy.
Some viewers thought Vine’s critique and concern were hypocritical.
‘Wait NOW @thejeremyvine wants to give him privacy he was literally on TV and radio begging for him to come forward #JeremyVine,’ shared one viewer.
‘Hypocrisy by Vine to save his own skin,’ chimed in another.
Some viewers were unimpressed (Picture: Twitter)
One viewer regarded the show’s messaging today, as not reflective of their usual output.
‘This programme is so hypocritical. They usually spend most of their programmes spreading hate.’
‘Funny but Jeremy Vine has probably come out of the BBC Presenter scandal looking worse than the person who it was actually about,’ wrote one person.
‘Jeremy was calling yesterday for Huw to own it was he not?? now he’s concerned?? ffs’
On yesterday’s show, Vine explained why he believed Edwards should come forward.
‘These new allegations will result in yet more vitriol being thrown at perfectly innocent colleagues of his. And the BBC, which I’m sure he loves, is on its knees with this. But it is his decision and his alone,’ he shared.
‘It’s his decision, but he needs to come forward.
‘I know his survival instinct has kicked in. He’s seen what happened to Phillip Schofield. Look at the damage to BBC, his friends, and the falsely accused. The longer he leaves it, the worse it will be.’
Schofield, 61, left ITV’s This Morning in May. He later admitted to lying about having an affair with a much younger male colleague, which happened while he was married and before coming out as gay in 2020.
Schofield spoke about the impact on his mental health (Picture: BBC)
He confessed the situation had an extreme mental toll – in an interview with The Sun, Schofield said he felt suicidal.
‘I am in a very bad way. Mentally, utterly, utterly broken.’
He stated: ‘And if it hadn’t been for my girls last week I wouldn’t be here.’
Schofield was referring to his daughters Molly, 29, and Ruby, 27.
‘I have just felt like I was going lower and lower and lower and lower. And then, this bizarre, numbness washes over you, like a selfishness.’
Vine believed that the BBC star’s mind could be clouded due to the situation: ‘They may not be able to judge what is right or wrong anymore.’
He said the BBC presenter should show concern for others, who’ve had to deny being the person at the centre of allegations ‘including me.’
Rylan Clark and Gary Lineker are among those who also tweeted to clear their names, before Edwards came forward.
Need support?
For emotional support you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email [email protected], visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.
If you’re a young person, or concerned about a young person, you can also contact PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide UK. Their HOPELINK digital support platform is open 24/7, or you can call 0800 068 4141, text 07860039967 or email: [email protected] between the hours of 9am and midnight.
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MORE : Piers Morgan brands Huw Edwards a ‘stand up guy’ after ‘very serious situation’
MORE : The Sun ‘has no plans to publish further allegations’ about Huw Edwards
‘He was literally begging for him to come forward.’
