Huw Edwards paid over £400k by BBC despite suspension
HUW Edwards will be named BBC’s highest paid journalist – even though he has not appeared on screen since he was suspended last July in a scandal that rocked the corporation.
The News at Ten presenter, 62, was said to have earned up to £439,000 last year despite being told to stay away amid allegations he paid £35,000 to a younger person who sent him explicit images.
An internal investigation continues but police have not taken any action against the married father of five. The younger person described the allegations as “rubbish”.
The BBC said: “We will not provide a commentary on what is an internal employment process and we’d urge people not to indulge in speculation.”
But one corporation source said: “It’s terrible for the licence fee payer if Huw is earning so much but not working. The BBC is getting so much value for money from other people doing endless hours.” Every year it publishes the salaries of staff paid over £178,000 in the 12 months to March. Last year its top-paid journalists alongside Huw were BBC Ulster’s Stephen Nolan, on up to £404,999, Fiona Bruce on £399,999, George Alagiah who was paid up to £389,999 and Sophie Raworth on up to £369,999.
Huw is the son of Welsh nationalist and historian Hywel Teifi Edwards and joined the BBC as a trainee in 1984.
He was seen as a potential successor to BBC giant David Dimbleby and took over from the luminary as the host of election night coverage. He fronted coverage of the royal weddings of Prince William and Kate in 2011 and Prince Harry and Meghan in 2018.
He also led coverage of the late Queen’s Diamond and Platinum Jubilees, the funeral of Prince Philip in 2021, the death and state funeral of the late Queen in 2022 and then the King’s Coronation last year.
The devout Christian, married to TV producer Vicky Flind, won admiration in 2021 for going public about a 20-year battle with depression, shortly after the Daily Express launched a major mental health campaign called By Your Side.
He told how his illness had left him bedridden, saying: “It started around 2002. I went down fairly quickly.
“I couldn’t get out of bed. I didn’t want to go to work. I didn’t want to speak to anybody. I couldn’t describe how overwhelming it was. Of course, you have to maintain a public image.
“Whenever I had to go live on air, I would literally have to tell myself, ‘Come on now, you’ll be OK now’.”