Huw Edwards feels 'angry and let down' and 'not impressed by BBC coverage'
Former BBC News correspondent Jon Sopel has shared on Good Morning Britain that BBC News presenter Huw Edwards had "felt let down" and "wasn't impressed" with coverage of recent allegations.
On Wednesday, Huw was named as the man accused of allegedly paying a teenager more than £35,000 for sexually explicit pictures by his wife Vicky Flind.
After days of coverage and a number of BBC presenters speaking out to deny they were the presenter in question, Huw's wife confirmed in a statement that he was the presenter at the centre of the scandal - as the BBC resumed their internal inquiry into the presenter following further allegations.
In the statement, it was confirmed that the presenter was suffering with "serious mental health issues" and was being treated in hospital in the fallout to the scandal.
Now, Huw's former BBC colleague Jon has told GMB how he reached out to Huw before he was hospitalised, and he said that the newsreader was "angry" with the coverage, is not "overly impressed" with the BBC.
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Former BBC News correspondent Jon Sopel has shared on Good Morning Britain that BBC news presenter Huw Edwards had 'felt let down' (ITV)Jon shared his hopes that Huw "gets better" and can return to broadcasting, "providing nothing else comes out". He appeared to call out the BBC's handling of the scandal, while adding that depending on the outcome of the inquiry, he couldn't see "what it had to do with anybody" else.
Speaking to GMB hosts Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard, Jon 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?"
Addressing the further allegations that the BBC are investigating, after the initial allegation, Jon said: "You think woah... the guy is in hospital."
One current employee said they had been sent inappropriate and suggestive messages from Mr Edwards, while two former members of staff said they had also received texts which made them feel uncomfortable.
Huw's former BBC colleague Jon has told GMB how he reached out to Huw before he was hospitalised (AFP via Getty Images)On whether Huw will return to the BBC, Jon said: "I don't know, I think if at the end of this what you are left with is someone who had some personal struggles about who he was, what he was, how he lived his life and he made some ill considered judgements along the way, I think it would be such a shame if such a talented and gifted broadcaster and the way he navigates state occasions, and big events and reads the news with such authority. If that is lost that will be a great loss.
"I hope he gets better and someway, somehow, he’s back providing nothing else comes out we don't know about. If things are as they are I hope he returns."
On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police confirmed detectives from the Met's Specialist Crime Command have now concluded their assessment and have determined there is no information to indicate that a criminal offence has been committed.
A statement said: "Detectives from the Met's Specialist Crime Command have now concluded their assessment and have determined there is no information to indicate that a criminal offence has been committed.
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"In reaching this decision, they have spoken to a number of parties including the BBC and the alleged complainant and the alleged complainant’s family, both via another police force. There is no further police action. As such, the Met has advised the BBC it can continue with its internal investigation.
"We are aware of media reporting of further allegations against the same individual. No specific details or information about these allegations have been passed to us and therefore there is no police action at this time.
"Should evidence of criminality or safeguarding issues be identified at any point we would expect matters to be referred to the relevant police force."
A BBC spokesperson said: “We have seen the statement from the police confirming they have completed their assessment and are not taking further action. We’re grateful to them for completing this work at speed.
“The police had previously asked us to pause our fact finding investigations and 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.”
A spokesperson for The Sun said on Wednesday night: "The allegations published by The Sun were always very serious. Further serious allegations have emerged in the past few days. It is right that the BBC's Corporate Investigations Team continues to investigate these thoroughly and deals with them in the way that they think is appropriate.
"The Sun will cooperate with the BBC's internal investigation process. We will provide the BBC team with a confidential and redacted dossier containing serious and wide-ranging allegations which we have received, including some from BBC personnel. The Sun has no plans to publish further allegations.
"We must also re-emphasise that The Sun at no point in our original story alleged criminality and also took the decision neither to name Mr Edwards nor the young person involved in the allegations. Suggestions about possible criminality were first made at a later date by other media outlets.
"From the outset, we have reported a story about two very concerned and frustrated parents who made a complaint to the BBC about the behaviour of a presenter and payments from him that fuelled the drug habit of a young person. We reported that the parents had already been to the police who said that they couldn't help. The parents then made a complaint to the BBC which was not acted upon.
"It is now for the BBC to properly investigate."
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV1 and ITVX.
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