Ex-BBC chair heaped praise on 'poor Huw' during radio show but knew of his arrest

The former chair of the BBC thanked disgraced newsreader Huw Edwards for his "huge contribution" despite knowing he had been arrested in November 2023.

- HANNAH ROBERTS

Dame Elan Closs Stephens left the role in March 2024, shortly before Edwards resigned during a confidential disciplinary process. Earlier this week Edwards admitted making indecent photographs, with seven of the 41 images being of the most serious type.

The admission came after a year of headlines about Edwards, which started when he was named as the presenter at the centre of a scandal over payments to a young person for sexually explicit images.

On 2 July, Dame Elan said on Welsh-language radio programme Beti a’i Phobol she was “proud to thank him (Edwards) personally for all his huge contribution and all the skills he has demonstrated that will help those who will succeed him”. She also referred to him as “poor Huw”, according to BBC Wales.