Huw Edwards resigns from BBC, corporation says

Newsreader Huw Edwards has resigned from the BBC, the corporation has said.

Huw Edwards was the BBC’s highest-earning newsreader. Pic: Matt Crossick/PA

The BBC said the decision was made “on medical advice”.

It comes nine months after the 62-year-old broadcaster from Llanelli faced allegations over explicit images.

Edwards, who was the BBC’s highest-earning newsreader, was accused of paying a teenager thousands of pounds for sexually explicit pictures.

A BBC spokesperson said: “Huw Edwards has today resigned and left the BBC. After 40 years of service, Huw has explained that his decision was made on the basis of medical advice from his doctors.

“The BBC has accepted his resignation which it believes will allow all parties to move forward. We don’t believe it appropriate to comment further.”

In February, the BBC apologised to the family at the centre of those allegations over the way it handled their complaint.

The corporation was accused of not responding quickly enough to those complaints.

The allegations first emerged in a story published by The Sun in July last year.

It was alleged Edwards had paid the teenager more than £35,000 for sexually explicit photos.

The paper did not name the former BBC presenter in its initial report.

Five days after the first report, the Metropolitan Police said it would not be taking any further action as it did not believe any criminal activity had taken place.

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The young person at the centre of the story said in a letter to BBC News, via their lawyers, that nothing inappropriate or unlawful had happened.

In the days after the story first broke, there was intense social media speculation around the identity of the unnamed presenter.

Edwards’s wife, Vicky Flind, later confirmed him as the man at the centre of the allegations.

She said in a statement released at the time that he was “suffering from serious mental health issues” and was “receiving in-patient hospital care”.

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Edwards, the main presenter of the BBC News At Ten since 2003, has been absent from screens since the story first broke.

His resignation brings to an end a 40-year career at the BBC, which included leading the corporation’s coverage of the 2019 general election results and reporting major events such as the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.