He was once a national treasure with one of the most recognisable faces in the UK – now Huw Edwards lives a very different life away from the spotlight

A row has erupted over the disgraced star paying back BBC earnings(Image: / SplashNews.com)

Disgraced BBC newsreader Huw Edwards narrowly avoided jail for making indecent images of children, with his personal and professional lives falling apart in the process.

Edwards, 64, was handed a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, after he pled guilty to making seven Category A indecent images of children – the worst type – as well as 12 Category B, and 22 Category C images at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in September 2024.

On his birthday earlier this week, the star looked very different as he was seen clutching three mini bottles of prosecco, his grey stubble a stark contrast to the formerly clean-cut broadcaster known to millions around the UK. Edwards was pictured returning to his car after a brief shopping outing in Swansea, Wales.

Edwards was the nation’s top newsreader at the height of his fame(Image: BBC)

The presenter was earning more than £475,000 at the BBC as the anchor of News At Ten in November 2023, when disturbing reports emerged that a high-profile, unnamed BBC presenter paid tens of thousands of pounds for explicit photos.

A mother claimed this went on from 2020, when their child was 17, for three years, which funded their child’s drug habit. He was suspended from the BBC at the time.

The TV star was arrested later that year regarding a separate investigation. Edwards’ phone was seized which revealed his participation in Whats App exchanges with convicted paedophile Alex Williams, who between the years 2018 and 2021 sent him indecent images of children, including two videos of a boy believed to be between the ages of seven and nine years old.

The star’s wife of 30 years Vicky Flind released a statement following the original allegation saying her husband was “suffering from serious mental health issues” and receiving in-patient care.

But as other accusations came to light, Vicky is said to have launched proceedings to end their marriage, with their £4.75 million home in Dulwich, South London, put up for sale.

A source told The Sun: “Vicky had enough of Edwards a long time ago but this is the final nail in the coffin of their relationship. He’s put her and their family through hell, so this was inevitable.”

Edwards continued to sport his wedding ring during his court case but the former couple are said to only communicate through their lawyers nowadays. Professionally, the broadcaster’s life has also crumbled.

Images from earlier this year showed Edwards frowning as he puffed on a vape. Speaking to the publication, an onlooker said: “He looked a shadow of his former, super-confident self — but there was no mistaking it was him.

“He was vaping and coughing and spluttering a bit, and didn’t look in the best shape. But he was lucky to be enjoying his freedom when most people think he should have been jailed for what he did.”

The disgraced star had been the corporation’s top-earning newsreader, earning between £475,000 and £479,999 in the year 2023/24 when he was arrested.

He continued to be paid by the BBC until he resigned five months later and it appears he hasn’t repaid the £200,000 he earned during that period as requested by the broadcaster

The disgraced star looks drastically different from his clean-cut newsreader days(Image: / SplashNews.com)

BBC Chairman Samir Shah recently told Times Radio: “We’ve been asking him and asking him and asking him. We’re getting legal advice on it”, adding: “If Huw is listening, give it back. Just give it back”.

Edwards was estimated to be worth as much as £3.8 million at his peak, with lucrative book and documentary deals and gigs presenting top awards shows topping up his BBC salary.

As Judge Paul Goldspring told the celebrity at his sentencing: “It is not an exaggeration to say your long-earned reputation is in tatters.”

Speaking at the Royal Television Society (RTS) London conference the month the broadcaster was convicted, BBC director-general Tim Davie stated that he “can’t see” Edwards working for the corporation ever again.

He will be on the sex offender register for the next seven years, meaning he will have to keep police informed of his whereabouts, with foreign travel difficult.