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12th July 2023
12:17pm BST
The BBC presenter accused of paying for sexually explicit images from a teen is facing more accusations, this time from a young person who has accused them of sending 'creepy' messages over social media.
The person, who is now 22, has come forward with claims the BBC personality sent messages to them on Instagram when they were just 17 years old.
It comes after a BBC presenter was suspended on Sunday over claims in the Sun that he paid £35,000 for sexually explicit pictures of a young person, starting when they were 17.
The claims came from the young person's mother, but on Monday a lawyer representing the person, now in their 20s, said “nothing inappropriate or unlawful” had taken place between their client and the BBC presenter.
The Sun has now published fresh allegations that the as-yet-unnamed presenter sent another young person 'creepy' messages using love hearts and kisses.
In an interview, they said: "Looking back now it does seem creepy because he was messaging me when I was still at school.
"In light of everything now, I feel shocked because as a broadcaster it is a name everyone would trust. I had no reason to think it was anything beyond that at that time."
The teen said they had been following the presenter on Instagram for months prior to the private message contact and said they were shocked to get a message from someone in the public eye with such a high profile.
In the alleged messages, the presenter appears to message the teen with a love heart before the teen asks about his BBC role.
The first message from the household name was reportedly sent on October 2018, several months after the teen had first followed the star.
"I was surprised he had messaged me out of the blue but was excited as I knew who he was. He sent a love heart emoji to me and I was taken aback. Looking back now at my reply I can tell I did not think anything of it because of my age," the young person claimed.
The person said they intermittently spoke over social media with the presenter, and asked them whether they should take part in a "BBC school scheme," which the BBC figure apparently encouraged them to do.
These are the latest allegations facing the presenter, following the original claims published by the Sun last week.
On Tuesday, a second person in their 20s told the BBC the presenter sent them abusive messages, after making contact on a dating app.
And the Sun made further allegations on Wednesday, saying the presenter broke lockdown rules in 2021 to meet someone from a dating site.
This prompted Jeremy Vine to encourage the person in question to come forward and identify themselves.
Vine said on Twitter and on his television show that he believes the presenter should make themselves publicly known for the sake of his BBC colleagues and the broadcaster.
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