News anchor Huw Edwards has been named as the BBC presenter at the centre of allegations by his wife Vicky Flind.
After days of speculation, Ms Flind revealed her husband’s identity in a statement on Wednesday, which said he was “suffering from serious mental health issues” and asked for privacy for her family.
Her statement read: “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.”
Mr Edwards has worked for the BBC for four decades and has been accused in a story first published in The Sun of paying £35,000 for sexually explicit images. The Metropolitan Police said on Wednesday that the presenter had not committed a criminal offence.
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Presenter Jeremy Vine was among those calling for the individual to be identified over fears of the damage it was causing to the reputation of the BBC.
He said in the Daily Mail: “What Flind has done – identifying her own husband and finally putting an end to the malicious speculation – is therefore not only extremely courageous, it is also exemplary from a moral point of view.
“She has taken the decision to put a lot of people out of their misery, while inevitably drawing attention to her own – and that of her five children with Edwards. I can only imagine what they, and she, are going through.”
The BBC is resuming its own investigation into the allegations, with a spokesperson for the BBC saying: “We will now move forward with that work, ensuring due process and a thorough assessment of the facts, whilst continuing to be mindful of our duty of care to all involved.”
Deputy Labour Leader Angela Rayner called for the BBC to be “transparent” with its complaints procedures, telling Sky News: “First of all they need to be very transparent about their policies, procedures and what they’re doing and how they would conduct themselves so people have that confidence that they’re dealing with their complaints, so people understand their complaints process.”
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