Josie Gibson has slammed the BBC for paying Huw Edwards his £475k-a-year salary while he was suspended after sex images scandal, saying ‘it makes my blood boil’.
The tearful This Morning host, 39, shook her head angrily and made the comments while discussing whether the BBC was wrong to continue paying the disgraced star.
Speaking on the Thursday This Morning show, she said she was ‘fuming’, it ‘makes my blood boil’ and ‘as a mother, it makes my stomach turn’.
The BBC admitted it knew that Huw Edwards had been arrested on ‘suspicion of serious offences’ last November, but kept paying his salary until he resigned in April.
The corporation said Edwards would have been sacked had he been charged over accessing indecent images while still working for the them, adding that it was ‘shocked’ at his ‘abhorrent behaviour’.
Shockingly, the Welshman remained the third-highest BBC journalist despite coming off-air, according to the organisation’s figures.
Josie Gibson has slammed the BBC for paying Huw Edwards his £475k-a-year salary while he was suspended after sex images scandal
The tearful This Morning host, 39, shook her head angrily and made the comments while discussing whether the BBC was wrong to continue paying the disgraced star
Edwards was surrounded by a media scrum as he left the court in central London
Friends of the ex-BBC News host said he kept his arrest ‘a secret’ and that they were stunned when news he had been charged was revealed this week (he is pictured reading the news)
Edwards is pictured leaving the court in London on Wednesday morning
This was the moment Edwards entered his car before being driven away from the court
This was in spite of him only being on air for three months of the financial year ending in March.
Talent pay figures show that Edwards, 62, saw his pay increase shoot up from up to £439,999 to up to £479,999.
This put him only behind Match of the Day host, Gary Lineker, who was once again the BBC’s highest paid star for the seventh year in a row on £1.35 million and Radio 2 breakfast host Zoe Ball, who brought in up to £954,999.
Appearing on This Morning alongside Gibson, Tim Campbell said: ‘It’s really difficult, as an employer you’re sometimes faced with disciplinary processes which mean you may have to suspend an individual while an investigation is going on.
‘The headline figures around paying someone can be very inflammatory because nobody wants to see someone who has now admitted guilt receiving tax-payer’s money.’
Today, betrayed staffers said the newsreader made a ‘mockery’ of the BBC and claimed he was aided by a small band of his bosses who kept his arrest secret for months.
The corporation faces yet more damaging questions after another of its biggest stars was revealed to be a sex offender after Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris and others.
‘It’s unforgivable and makes a mockery of the organisation. There will be lots of people who are very angry with Tim Davie’, one BBC employee said today.
It comes as the disgraced newsreader, 62, pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine.
The veteran news reader kept seven category ‘A’ images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by a paedophile.
He had a total of 41 foul images, showing youngsters between the age of seven and 14, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard today.
Edwards is pictured leaving the court after his brief appearance where he admitted to making indecent images of children
Edwards was flanked by police officers when he turned up for his court hearing on Wednesday
Edwards has since left the family home and has reportedly split with his TV producer wife, Vicky Flind (the pair are pictured together in 2018 in London)
Edwards faced a media frenzy as he approached Westminster Magistrates’ Court
Edwards was arrested on November 8 last year, with the BBC being aware of his arrest, it has now been revealed. He was then charged on June 26. He resigned in April on health grounds.
The News at Ten reader, whose glittering four-decade career is now in tatters, is said to have kept his arrest ‘secret’ from his friends, a former colleague told the Mail today.
The father-of-five moved out of the family home in Dulwich after separating from his TV producer wife, Vicky Flind.
In a statement after Edwards appeared in court, the BBC said: ‘The BBC is shocked to hear the details which have emerged in court today. There can be no place for such abhorrent behaviour and our thoughts are with all those affected.
‘The police have confirmed that the charges are not connected to the original complaint raised with the BBC in the summer of 2023, nevertheless in the interests of transparency we think it important to set out some points about events of the last year.
‘In November 2023, whilst Mr Edwards was suspended, the BBC as his employer at the time was made aware in confidence that he had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation. At the time, no charges had been brought against Mr Edwards and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health.
‘Today we have learnt of the conclusion of the police process in the details as presented to the court. If at any point during the period Mr Edwards was employed by the BBC he had been charged, the BBC had determined it would act immediately to dismiss him. In the end, at the point of charge he was no longer an employee of the BBC.
‘During this period, in the usual way, the BBC has kept its corporate management of these issues separate from its independent editorial functions.
‘We want to reiterate our shock at Mr Edwards’ actions and our thoughts remain with all those affected.’
It comes amid questions over why the CPS waited weeks to confirm charges against the presenter.
The ex-News at Ten presenter was charged in June, but the details were only revealed on Monday, after the date of his first court appearance was released by Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
A former attorney general said it was ‘very puzzling’ that the CPS did not publish details of the charges brought against Edwards around the time he was charged.
He added that the CPS’s actions did not seem ‘in accordance with’ the principles of open justice, The Telegraph first reported.
The CPS denied it had purposely suppressed details about the presenter being charged or given him preferential treatment.
A CPS spokesperson said: ‘Decisions on charging announcements are based on operational factors and no defendant receives preferential treatment.
‘Our handling of this case followed our normal procedures working in partnership with police colleagues.’
The charges mark a sensational fall from grace for the veteran broadcaster who until July last year was widely regarded to be at the height of his powers.
During a glittering four-decade career, he covered general elections and commentated on the weddings of both Prince Harry and Prince William.
In March 2023, Edwards was riding high on the back of a new three-year deal with the BBC after being widely praised for the way he led the coverage of the Queen’s death.
In June that year, Edwards picked up the best live event honour at the Tric Awards for being among those to cover the state funeral of the late Queen, and in February he received the Broadcast Awards’ special recognition award.
It came in the weeks after he had just fronted the coverage for King Charles’ coronation as he led the BBC broadcast of the historic event.
Edwards was last seen on our screens on July 5 as he covered King Charles’ visit to Scotland.
