Huw Edwards – latest: BBC bosses warn staff against ‘damaging’ gossip about suspended presenter

Dan Walker, David Baddiel and Elizabeth Day are among those who have shared their thoughts on the discussion surrounding Huw Edwards, after the BBC presenter was named as the person facing allegations over payments to a teenager for sexually explicit images.

The Sun told a story of “massive public interest” and handled it with “discretion, a former deputy editor of the paper has said.

Speaking to Sky News, Neil Wallis defended the tabloid’s coverage after many people took aim at its reporting over the Huw Edwards allegations.

“They broke a story of massive public interest. They handled it with, as far as I can see, discretion,” he said.

“They gave desperate parents an opportunity to stop what they saw as a terrible thing.”

A public relations and crisis consultant has said the wife of Huw Edwards should be “praised” following her naming the BBC presenter as the figure embroiled in an explicit photos scandal.

Vicky Flind spoke out saying Edwards was the BBC presenter on Wednesday following him facing allegations over payments for sexually explicit images.

In a shock announcement, Huw Edwards has been named as the BBC presenter at the centre of a sex scandal that has rocked the nation’s broadcaster.

His wife Vicky Flind named him as the suspended TV star and said that her husband was “suffering from serious mental health issues” and was receiving treatment in hospital, where he would remain “for the foreseeable future”.

The former News of the World editor who was jailed on phone hacking charges is giving crisis management advice to the family of Huw Edwards over claims made in The Sun newspaper, the i has reported.

Andy Coulson, the former Downing Street communications chief to David Cameron, is understood to have assisted with the statement Mr Edwards’s wife Vicky Flind gave which named him as the TV star at the centre of the controversy.

Coulson served five months of an 18-month prison term imposed in 2014 after he was convicted of conspiring to intercept voicemails at the now-defunct Sunday tabloid following an Old Bailey trial.

It is not known whether Coulson has spoken directly to Edwards, who has separately engaged lawyers to handle the allegations of inappropriate behaviour made against him.

A former BBC journalist revealed that Huw Edwards had been feeling “very angry” about the allegations made in The Sun, prior to his hospitalisation.

Speaking to GMB hosts Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard on Thursday, Jon Sopel told them: “We’ve had contact, obviously not since he has been hospitalised. He was very angry, I think he felt very let down by what had happened in The Sun, he was furious with their coverage. Not overly impressed with the BBC’s coverage either. Anyone that knows him is just wishing him well.

“He is incredibly funny, has got an acid wit. He can be a complicated person to deal with. If you’re entering Huw’s orbit he’s very defensive of his own territory.”

He added: “If it is there is no question of illegality, no question of sexual assault, things might change but as things stand now, there’s been no illegality, there’s been no abuse of power as far as I can see, so therefore I think what is it to do with anybody?”

In 2022, Huw Edwards spoke out about how suffering from depression has affected his life and career, sharing that the condition has occasionally left him unable to leave his bed.

In the interview, the BBC News at Ten anchor openly discussed his 20-year long mental health struggles.

The parents of a young person at the centre of the Huw Edwards controversy have reportedly been offered tens of thousands of pounds for a television interview.

According to The Guardian, an interview with the couple has been recorded and is being edited for broadcast on TalkTV, the sister station of The Sun.

Sources said that Rupert Murdoch’s News UK had offered a signifcant sum for the interview, but no payment has yet been made, with the parents reportedly taking part in a planned three-part documentary series.

The parents have claimed that their 20-year-old child was taken advantage of by Mr Edwards, who allegedly paid the young person £35,000 in return for explicit images.

Mental health charity Mind has called for Huw Edwards to be given “space to receive treatment” while he experiences “serious mental health problems”.

The 61-year-old presenter is a patron of a branch of the charity in Llanelli.

“As is well documented, Huw has been treated for severe depression in recent years. He has been very eloquent in talking about his mental health issues,” said the director of Mind Cymru, Susan O’Leary.

“Given these very challenging circumstances, he has asked that he and his family’s privacy be respected.

“We would like to stress that it is important that anybody experiencing serious mental health problems is given the appropriate space to receive the treatment they need.”

A friend of Huw Edwards has said he initially did not believe the claims about the BBC presenter because they were “against everything I know about the man”.

Andrew Billen, a feature writer for The Times, had lunch with Edwards last Thursday and said that the TV star was in “high spirits” during the meal.

Their meeting was arranged just hours before the newsreader was informed of the allegations against him.

Mr Billen told Sky News the 61-year-old was “certainly not a man with a tremendous dark cloud hanging over him”.

Discussing the allegations, he said: “Personally speaking I was incredibly shocked. It flew against everything I thought I knew about the man.

“I didn’t believe it partly because I didn’t want to believe it.”