The rise and fall of Huw Edwards: BBC’s highest paid newsreader facing jail

Edwards was regarded as the best known face of BBC News

Huw Edwards arriving at Westminster Magistrates Court (PA Wire)

One of the most recognisable faces on British television, Huw Edwards’s dramatic fall from grace has seemingly taken the entire country by surprise.

Known for anchoring coverage of major national events and establishing himself as the BBC’s most reliable presenter for royal occasions, his glittering career has bombed now that he has been unmasked as a paedophile.

During an appearance at Westminster magistrates court, the broadcaster’s highest paid newsreader admitted to making indecent images of children.

His reputation now lies in tatters (PA Archive)

After joining the BBC in 1984, he rose the ranks to become the face of BBC News, and was a familiar face on television each evening as he guided the country through major conflicts, celebrations and general elections.

However he is now making headlines himself as he admitted having 41 images on WhatsApp, including seven of the most serious type, and faces a potential jail sentence.

While the 62-year-old fronted the flagship nightly news programme for the last 20 years, he resigned from the corporation in April after allegations against him were made in The Sun newspaper last year.

Born in Bridgend and brought up in Llangennech, Carmarthenshire, Edwards initially joined the BBC as a trainee.

He was surrounded by journalists and photographers on Wednesday morning (Aaron Chown/PA) (PA Wire)

During his four decades there, he was chosen over and over again to front the coverage of the major news of the day, leading coverage of historic events including the late Queen’s funeral in 2022 and most recently the coronation of the King in May 2023.

Edwards also announced the late Queen’s death on the BBC in September 2022.

He was front and centre in live broadcasts of election coverage, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 and Platinum Jubilee in 2022, the wedding of the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011, the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2018, and the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh in 2021.

Edwards was also the BBC’s voice at Trooping the Colour and the Festival of Remembrance.

When the BBC was looking for someone to take over election coverage from the long-serving David Dimbleby in 2019, it was Edwards who was chosen.

Edwards was known as one of the BBC’s leading presenters (PA Wire)

Edwards was also 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.

In 2018, it was reported he agreed to take a pay cut following revelations over unequal pay for men and women at the BBC.

Edwards said in 2021 that he was considering his future presenting News At Ten as he approached his 60th birthday.

The broadcaster, who attended Llanelli Grammar School and graduated in French from Cardiff University, is an honorary professor in the School of Journalism, Media and Culture at his old university.

Former BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards arriving at Westminster Magistrates’ Court (Aaron Chown/PA) (PA Wire)

He has 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.”

Speaking on a podcast hosted by Jane Garvey and Fi Glover, Fortunately… With Fi And Jane, Edwards said he decided to share publicly that he has depression as he felt it was “complete hypocrisy” to support organisations such as the Shawmind Foundation or Mind without explaining why.

Huw Edwards on the set of the BBC’s Six O’clock News (Richard Kendal/PA) (PA Media)

“I also felt that it might be someway helpful to people if I opened up about it and say, ‘You can do a job and you can be successful’, whether it’s just reading a bit of autocue or doing whatever it is… while also dealing with issues like that,” he told the podcast.

He was charged by the CPS following an investigation which found indecent images on a Whatsapp chat.

The court heard that Edwards had engaged in online chat involving illegal photographs 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.

On February 2 2021, the male asked whether what he was sending was too young, to which Edwards told him not to send any underage images, the court heard.