The downfall of Huw Edwards BBCs biggest star guided the nation through its most poignant moments du
By Matthew Lodge Published: 14:05 BST, 31 July 2024 | Updated: 15:59 BST, 31 July 2024 542 View comments Anchoring the BBC News at Ten, Huw Edwards was one of the Britain’s most recognisable faces and among its most trusted voices. From braving terrorist attacks and war zones, to grilling politicians and reporting on sporting triumphs, the Welsh broadcaster covered it all during his 40-year career at the corporation.Gay porno When he announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II – a task he admitted he had spent years preparing for – there were calls for him to be knighted over his sensitive and composed way he addressed the nation. But less than two years later the 62-year-old has suffered a remarkable fall from grace that has seen him lose his job and the breakup of his marriage to the mother of his five children. First a scandal involving payments to a teenage boy in return for sexual images saw him leave the BBC and now he faces a prison sentence after admitting to making indecent images of children as young as seven. Huw Edwards pictured with his wife Vicky Find in South London in 2018. She has since separated from the former broadcaster in the wake of his recent scandals Edwards spent 40 years working his way up the ranks of the BBC, first coming to national attention presenting the BBC Six O’Clock News Edwards pictured with his late father Hywel, who was a Welsh-language activist and academic Huw Edwards shakes hands with Queen Elizabeth II during a royal visit to BBC Studios in London in June 2013 He would later announce the news of Her Majesty’s death to the nation in September 2022 After spending decades working his way up at the BBC the newsreader, who has previously said he is a devout Christian and goes to church every week, will never again be seen on the UK’s TV screens in a professional capacity. As a child growing up in a Welsh-speaking family in Llanelli, near Swansea, Edwards had seemed destined to become a high achiever, despite in his own words being an ‘angry and stroppy teenager’. His father was a Welsh-language activist, author and academic, his mother – with whom he remains incredibly close following recent scandals – was a secondary school teacher. He had originally harboured ambitions of studying at the University of Oxford, but was ‘appalled’ at being rejected by Hertford College and instead studied French at Cardiff University, earning first class honours. Edwards would later get revenge of a sort, giving a speech at Oxford years later in which he said he had the ‘scholarly giants of Oxford to thank for the fact that I’ve been a dazzling success as a journalist’. His moves into journalism would begin while he was working on a postgraduate degree in Medieval French, with Edwards having a short stint doing work experience at a commercial radio station in Swansea. At the age of 23 he joined BBC Wales as a trainee in 1984, beginning his long and very profitable association with the corporation – at his peak Edwards was one of its highest paid stars, raking in more than £400,000-a-year. After cutting his teeth as a parliamentary correspondent for BBC Wales, in 1994 he was moved to the BBC Six O’Clock News, where his importance continued to grow as he fronted Britain’s most watched news programme. A further promotion to the BBC Ten O’Clock News in 2003 saw his star rise even further and he was chosen over and over again to front the coverage of the major news of the day. Huw Edwards pictured after the announcement he would be the new presenter of the BBC Six O’Clock News in 1994 He was part of a raft of new talent brought into the corporation’s news teams in the 90s, alongside George Alagiah, Anna Ford and Fiona Bruce (pictured together) AS he worked he way up the ladder he become a common sight at royal events, including the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton (pictured) The newsreader also presented the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle in 2018 (pictured) He was front and centre in live broadcasts of election coverage, taking over from David Dimbleby in 2019 as the main presenter of the BBC results programming. He also became the face and voice of the corporation’s royal coverage, presenting at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 and Platinum Jubilee in 2022, the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011, the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018, and the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh in 2021. He also made documentaries for the BBC including Wales: Who Do We Think We Are? and talked about his depression on S4C’s Huw Edwards Is 60. In a documentary in 2021, Edwards revealed he has had bouts of depression over the last two decades which have left him ‘bedridden’. ‘Like everyone that suffers with depression, you don’t get one bout of it. It comes and goes,’ he said. ‘For me, it started around 2002 I think. I went down fairly quickly and I couldn’t understand it.’ Outside of work he became vice president of the National Churches Trust – although he would be sacked from this position after his child porn conviction – and was known to take his family, including wife Vicky Flind and their five children, to church every week. His importance to the BBC saw his wages rocket, with Edwards becoming the corporation’s highest paid newsreader with a pay bracket of £475,000 and £479,999 for the year 2023/24, before he resigned, according to the BBC’s latest annual report. This last salary marked an increase from 2022/23, when he was paid between £435,000 and 439,999 for 180 days presenting on BBC One, as well as news specials. The presenter also hosted a number of documentaries for the BBC, including The Story of Wales with Huw Edwards (pictured) As host of the BBC Ten O’Clock News he also covered the vote that led to Britain take part in the invasion of Iraq Edwards pictured looking at the camera while holding a BBC News umbrella outside Downing Street in 2007 In 2018, it was reported he agreed to take a pay cut following revelations over unequal pay for men and women at the BBC, although he made his feelings known about the decision. He told The Times in 2022 that he was ‘bloody angry’ about seeing his wages go down, saying: ‘I was being paid what the BBC had agreed to pay me; it wasn’t my fault. ‘When a senior manager, a middle-aged white male, called me in to ask me to take a pay cut, the first thing I asked was, ‘Are you taking one?’ He looked horrified at the very idea.’ Although that’s not say he didn’t enjoy the attention that being a famous face brought him – in his interview with The Times he remarked how he was recognised in public. He said: ‘I will often get young women coming up to me and saying, ‘Do you mind if I have a selfie?’ Smiling broadly, I’ll say, ‘Of course.’ They then say, without missing a beat, ‘My grandmother is a huge fan of yours.’ I just think, well, I am 60. It does keep your feet on the ground.’ Behind scenes though he had a tempestuous relationship with some colleagues, with his former editor Sir Craig Oliver recalling concerns about his behaviour towards colleagues. Speaking today Sir Craig said: ‘He could be a very, very difficult and complicated man. He would speak about being prone to bouts of depression and sometimes he clashed with staff. ‘There were also, I think, a number of people who were worried about his behaviour within the BBC – was he actually throwing his weight around and behaving well enough to other staff? But I don’t think anybody suspected that there was child abuse imagery in his private life in any way, shape or form.’ In September 2022 he reached the zenith of his career as he led the BBC’s coverage of the late Queen’s death. As the chaos and speculation swirled around Her Majesty’s condition the newsreader, wearing a black suit and tie, appeared on the nation’s TV screens He then uttered the words: ‘A few moments ago, Buckingham Palace announced the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.’ It was a moment he had spent years preparing for, often practising in the bathroom mirror to get the tone, pitch and cadence spot on, and his announcement was seen around the world. He received plaudits from all quarters for his delivery of the news and his subsequent reporting of her funeral, although he dismissed calls from some for him to be given a knighthood over it, saying the thought of getting one ’embarrassed’ him. Huw Edwards pictured at the 2012 British Acadamy Television Awards at Royal Festival Hall in London The presenter pictured outside the Royal Television Society Programme Awards at the Grosvenor Hotel in London in March 2017 Less than a year later he would front the BBC’s coverage of the Coronation of King Charles III as he provided a reassuring face and voice to the nation during times of upheaval. However, behind the scenes though not everything was so rosy – a battle with mental illness including depression took its toll and the BBC’s top newsreader was about to become embroiled in a scandal that would claim his career. The newsreader was besieged by accusations he had paid a teenage boy for sexually explicit images over the course of three years. The man’s family had accused Edwards of paying the him £35,000, most of which was allegedly used to fund his crack cocaine habit. The BBC star’s identity was kept secret initially, sparking a frenzy of speculation about who the allegation’s were referring to – Gary Lineker and Jeremy Vine both felt obliged to deny they were the man in question. Then Edwards’ wife of 30 years issued a shock statement revealing it was her husband who was the centre of the accusations and that he was ‘suffering from serious mental health issues’ following the claims. The BBC subsequently suspended its top paid newsreader, two months after the young person’s family had complained to the corporation, and acknowledged there had been ‘shortcomings’ in the ways it had dealt with their concerns. Edwards would go on to take sanctuary in his beloved Wales and was staying with his mother Aerona in Camarthenshire. While the Metropolitan Police and South Wales Police both said no criminal offence had been committed by the presenter in this case, it marked the end of Edwards’ career. The father-of-five resigned from the BBC in April this year, citing ‘medical advice’ from doctors having been admitted to hospital in the aftermath of the allegations against him. Edwards, pictured here wearing fighting gloves, has been open in the past about his struggles with depression The newsreader took sanctuary with his mother Aerona (pictured with him) in his beloved Wales in the aftermath of one scandal The news of his departure was announced to staff at the corporation by Deborah Turness, the BBC’s chief executive, who read out the statement: ‘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’. The terse 55-word statement made no mention of the scandal that had erupted around him, and was conspicuously absent of any praise or thanks for his long service. It brought Edwards’ long association with the BBC to a close – and meant he was no longer receiving his £439,000-a-year salary which had continued to be paid during his suspension. And while it seemed the broadcaster, who has been absent from the public gaze since then, had reached rock bottom it turned out there were new depths to plumb. This morning Edwards arrived at court in London accused making 41 indecent images of children. In the centre of a media scrum and surrounded by photographers, the silver-haired former BBC star gave nothing away as he walked into the building with dark sunglasses covering his eyes. Inside details of the sick allegations were made public – he had been accused of keeping seven category ‘A’ images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by a paedophile. The sick child porn images showed youngsters aged between seven and 14, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard. It was revealed that Edwards had been arrested on November 8 last year and charged on June 26, having kept details of the investigation into him ‘secret’ from his friends at the BBC. In the turmoil he had moved out of his family’s home in Dulwich and separated from his wife, details of which only came to light today. The former BBC News presenter was surrounded by photographers outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court this morning Inside the court room the former BBC star admitted to making indecent images of children Edwards, pictured here in a court sketch from today, now faces a potential prison sentence and his fall from grace is complete after decades at the top of broadcasting In the court room he remained emotionless as he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, between December 2020 and August 2022. After entering his pleas, the disgraced newsreader sat staring into the distance, with his head tilted slightly upwards, and adjusted his tie as Ian Hope, prosecuting, laid out the case against him. The court heard that Edwards had been involved in an online chat with an adult man on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021, who sent him 377 sexual images, of which 41 were indecent images of children. The bulk of these, 36, were sent during a two-month period. Mr Hope told the court there was ‘no suggestion’ Edwards had ‘anything to with making the images or indeed doing anything beyond the opening of the images.’ His defence barrister Philip Evans KC told the court that his client had ‘both mental and physical’ health issues, before stating Edwards was ‘not just of good character, but of exceptional character’. The former broadcaster will be sentenced at the same court on September 16, where he could face a prison sentence. Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group
