The mother of a teenager who was groomed by disgraced former BBC presenter Huw Edwards has expressed outrage over reports that Channel 4 is in talks to air his first television interview since his sentencing.
Edwards, 64, received a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years in September 2024 after admitting to three counts of making indecent images of children. The former BBC News at Ten anchor is now reportedly negotiating his first TV interview since the case.
Speaking to The Sun on Sunday, the mother of the teenager who first exposed Edwards condemned the broadcaster's decision. 'It is absolutely disgusting that Channel 4 has given a convicted paedophile a platform,' she said. 'I do not understand what he has to say or what his side of the story really is. Who wants to hear that? And why would they agree to it? Whatever he says, there is no excuse for how he behaved. Have we not been through enough?'
The controversy comes just days after Channel 4 faced criticism over allegations of rape involving contestants on its hit series Married at First Sight UK. Now the publicly owned broadcaster risks additional backlash by working with convicted sex offender Edwards, according to a report in the Sunday Times.
Edwards was suspended by the BBC in 2023 after it emerged he had groomed a young man on social media and paid him thousands of pounds for explicit images. Last month, the disgraced news presenter criticised Channel 5's new drama about him, Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards, starring Martin Clunes, and vowed to share his own version of events.
In a statement, Edwards said: 'Much has been written and reported in the past week following Channel 5's one-sided account. Other opportunities will arise later this year for me to state my case and to challenge the misleading or fabricated claims made in recent coverage. A number of serious questions still remain to be answered, and not just by me. It will now take some time for me to produce my own account, and until then I do not intend to comment any further.'
Edwards also claimed that the network made 'no attempt to check with me the truth of any aspect of their narrative.' Metro has contacted Channel 4 for comment.
