Jeremy Vine says he’s ‘thinking of his colleague’ after it was revealed Huw Edwards is suffering with ‘serious mental health issues’ – a day after the TV and Radio host faced backlash for urging scandal-hit presenter to identify himself
Jeremy Vine today said he’s ‘thinking of his colleague’ after Huw Edwards’ wife revealed he is suffering with ‘serious mental health issues’.
The TV and radio host addressed the story on his Channel 5 programme today after previously facing a backlash for urging Mr Edwards to identify himself when his name had still not been made public.
‘What a sad, sad story this is. I’m thinking of my colleague, who is unwell,’ he said.
Vine was previously smeared by Twitter trolls making baseless claims that he was the BBC star who The Sun claims paid a teenager £35,000 for sexually explicit images, prompting his wife to beg him to wear a disguise in public.
Today, the broadcaster questioned whether The Sun’s original story was correct. He said: ‘You have to be certain before running something that destroys a man. It now looks like he, very sadly, is in a terrible way.’
Jeremy Vine addressed the Huw Edwards story on his Channel 5 programme today after previously facing a backlash for urging the presenter to identify himself
Vine’s intervention came after he was smeared by Twitter trolls making baseless claims that he was the BBC star
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,’ he said. ‘That is a very important thought. Now we have a man who is in apparently in a very devastated 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.
Rylan Clark and Gary Lineker were among those who also tweeted to clear their names before Mr Edwards’s wife, Vicky Flind, came forward to identify him.
Yesterday Vine faced a backlash from rival broadcaster Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain.
She told viewers: ‘Now we have a very high-profile presenter, Jeremy Vine, putting pressure on the unnamed presenter to come forward, which I think is a strange move for another presenter.’
Meanwhile, his former BBC colleague Jon Sopel urged Mr Vine to ‘shut the f*** up’.
The radio and TV host, 58, spoke of how wife Rachel has feared for his safety, giving him a baseball cap and telling him ‘you better wear this’ when he went to a Bruce Springsteen concert at the weekend
It comes amid claims Victoria Derbyshire and other BBC staff were already looking into Mr Edwards before the alleged sex scandal was made public.
The Newsnight host, who was accused of accidentally saying her colleague’s first name on live TV last week, is claimed to have been probing allegations about his conduct for ‘a while’.
According to Deadline, several sources told them that Ms Derbyshire had already contacted ‘multiple individuals’ regarding rumours about his alleged behaviour including unwanted, inappropriate or flirtatious messages to junior staff.
But Jon Sopel has accused the BBC of unfairly targeting his friend and claimed: ‘Many of my former BBC colleagues – some very senior – have been in touch to express their anger and dismay at their own coverage of this’. He said Huw is ‘very angry’ and ‘felt very let down’ by the BBC’s coverage.
Huw Edwards was last seen on the screen on July 5 when he covered King Charles’ visit to Scotland, he was taken off air on July 6 and then suspended days later
MailOnline can also reveal claims that Mr Edwards’ bosses were openly upset about missing the Ashes, Wimbledon and their wives after they were tasked with investigating the broadcaster accused of paying a teenage drug addict for explicit snaps.
A corporation insider claims that while the journalists reporting on the allegations were ‘left in the dark’, BBC management were locked away in a conference room.
One boss was heard ‘moaning loudly’ about missing the sport and England’s Ashes fightback, declaring: ‘The only time I’ve seen my wife this weekend is when she was on TV’, the source said, adding: ‘We are all so sick and tired of these people’.
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