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10th July 2023
08:15am BST
The BBC presenter accused of paying a teenager thousands for sex images has reportedly made two calls to his family asking them to "stop the investigation".
The high-profile presenter, who has been suspended by the corporation, is said to have called the family asking, "What have you done?".
The star is also said to have asked the youngster to tell his mum to "stop the investigation", The Sun reported.
On Saturday the newspaper revealed the presenter was accused of paying a teen £35,000 for sexual pictures since then were 17. The teen is said to have used the money to buy crack cocaine.
The young person's family complained to the BBC on 19 May and begged them to make the man “stop sending the cash”, before contacting The Sun.
They are now said to be unhappy with the wording of a statement the corporation made Sunday announcing that t staff member had been suspended and it was working as fast as possible "to establish the facts in order to properly inform appropriate next steps".
The BBC is set to meet with the Met Police on Monday to "discuss the matter" - the BBC reported - and is under fire for taking so long to address the matter with the presenter being dropped some seven weeks after the allegations were first made on 19 May.
The Met said it has “received initial contact” from the BBC over the claims but no formal referral or allegation has been made.
It was also claimed Sunday that the presenter had attended an awards ceremony along with BBC bosses last month
BBC director general Tim Davie claimed the presenter was dropped after “new allegations” came to light.
Labour’s Rachel Reeves said: “The BBC needs to get a grip. We seem to lurch from one scandal to another."
The shadow chancellor added to the Mirror: “The idea that some presenters think they can act with impunity and get away with these sorts of things calls into question the ethics, the investigations, how long these things take. When serious allegations are made I don’t think it is right that people stay in those jobs while investigations go on. There needs to be a full investigation.”
Several BBC stars including Jeremy Vine, Nicky Campbell, Gary Lineker and Rylan Clark have publicly stated they are not the presenter involved.
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