Jeremy Vine calls on BBC presenter to reveal themselves as others are being blamed

BBC radio host Jeremy Vine has called on the presenter at the centre of the sex photo scandal to name himself amid social media speculation. 

Last week, the Sun newspaper broke a story in which the parents of a young woman told the paper that when the girl was 17 a ‘top’ BBC presenter paid the teenager for sexually explicit images. A lawyer for the girl, now aged 20, denied the claims that her mother and stepfather made in the newspaper. 

Since then, several others have come forward to make allegations against the unnamed BBC presenter. He has since been suspended from the BBC amid investigations. 

The presenter hasn’t been publicly named leading to speculation circling online and others being blamed. Several well-known BBC presenters – such as Gary Lineker, Jeremy Vine and Rylan Clark have publicly said they are not the presenter involved in the scandal. 

Vine is now calling on the presenter to name himself as the new allegations will result in “more vitriol being thrown at perfectly innocent colleagues”.  

A second young person told the BBC on Tuesday that the presenter sent them abusive messages after making contact on a dating app. And on Wednesday, the Sun newspaper made more allegations – including that the presenter broke lockdown rules in 2021 to meet someone from a dating site. 

“It’s his decision, but he needs to come forward now,” says Vine.

Vine says the presenter’s “survival instinct has kicked in” – but, he adds, “look at the damage to the BBC, look at the damage to his friends”.