BBC presenters deny allegations over explicit images claims

The teenager was 17 years old when the payments first began and their family launched a complaint to the BBC on May 19.

The mother exclusively told The Sun that their child had used the money to “fund a cocaine habit.”

Just to say I’m very much looking forward to hosting my radio show on Monday — whoever the “BBC Presenter” in the news is, I have the same message for you as Rylan did earlier: it certainly ain’t me.

— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) July 8, 2023

Although the alleged presenter has not been named, the publisher understands they have been “taken off air.”

On the News at Ten presented by Clive Myrie, special correspondent Lucy Manning said: “I think this is very serious for the BBC, let’s make no bones about this.

“The understanding is the presenter isn’t due on air in the near future, but we haven’t been told, and we have asked, we haven’t been told by the BBC whether there has or hasn’t been a formal suspension.

“The BBC will need to answer if the investigation should have happened sooner, if it should have been more thorough, and if it’s fair to other presenters unconnected to this that their names are now sort of in the headlines.”

In other news this is how the night ended with @RobbieRinder , like taking ya nan out pic.twitter.com/T30CyAGLLc

— R Y L A N (@Rylan) July 8, 2023

Who are the BBC stars denying allegations over unnamed presenter ‘paying teenager for sexually explicit images’ claims?

So far, there have been a variety of famous faces who have publicly “cleared their name” online, saying they are not the presenter associated with The Sun’s story, with many more expected to issue their own statements over the coming days.

Rylan Clark tweeted: “Not sure why my name’s floating about but re that story in the Sun – that ain’t me babe. I’m currently filming a show in Italy for the BBC, so take my name out ya mouths.”

Jeremy Vine tweeted: “Just to say I’m very much looking forward to hosting my radio show on Monday — whoever the ‘BBC Presenter’ in the news is, I have the same message for you as Rylan did earlier: it certainly ain’t me.”

Vine also ‘liked’ a tweet which said: “I find both Jeremy Vine and Rylan mildly irritating and I switch channels when they appear… However, there’s no way either of them deserves to be a target of such speculation.”

BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Nicky Campbell is among those speaking out to stop the rumours and appears to have contacted the police after being mentioned in connection with the story.

He posted a website screenshot on Twitter which said: “Thank you for contacting the Metropolitan Police Service to report your crime.”

I’ve been getting a hell of a lot of texts and WhatsApp’s all day #pinging. It’s the weekend! I’m playing the piano and stuff.

— Nicky Campbell (@NickyAACampbell) July 8, 2023

Campbell added: “I think it’s important to take a stand. There’s just too many of these people on social media. Thanks for your support friends.”

A BBC spokesperson said: “We treat any allegations very seriously and we have processes in place to proactively deal with them.

“As part of that, if we receive information that requires further investigation or examination we will take steps to do this. That includes actively attempting to speak to those who have contacted us in order to seek further detail and understanding of the situation.

“If we get no reply to our attempts or receive no further contact that can limit our ability to progress things but it does not mean our enquiries stop.

“If, at any point, new information comes to light or is provided – including via newspapers – this will be acted upon appropriately, in line with internal processes.”