A number of high profile BBC stars have been speaking out to clear their names amid speculation over the identity of the presenter who is accused of paying a teenager to send sexually explicit photos.
The mother of the child, who is alleged to have been 17-years-old when the payments began, claims the money was used to fund a crack cocaine addiction.
The teen, who is remaining anonymous, allegedly went from a ‘happy-go-lucky’ teen to a ‘ghost-like’ addict in just a number of years.
The mother, who went to The Sun newspaper with her allegations, said she ‘felt sick’ whenever she saw the presenter on TV and complained to the BBC seven weeks ago but was unhappy with their response.
Rylan Clark
The first big name star to distance himself from the scandal was former It Takes Two host and BBC Radio 2 presenter Rylan Clark as he warned trolls: ‘Take my name out ya mouths.’
Rylan, who is currently filming for a new TV show in Italy, hit out after seeing his name among those being touted around on Twitter hours after the initial report dropped.
‘Not sure why my names floating about but re that story in The Sun – that ain’t me babe. I’m currently filming a show in Italy for the BBC, so take my name out ya mouths,’ he warned.
Jeremy Vine
Hours after Rylan’s post, his fellow Radio 2 presenter Jeremy Vine also took to Twitter to deny he was the man involved in the allegations.
The father-of-two wrote: ‘Just to say I’m very much looking forward to hosting my radio show on Monday – whoever the ”BBC Presenter” in the news is, I have the same message for you as Rylan did earlier: it certainly ain’t me.’
He also liked a Tweet from a supportive observer of the unfolding drama that claimed he ‘did not deserve’ to be targeted.
The post read: ‘I find both Jeremy Vine and Rylan mildly irritating and I switch channels when they appear… However, there’s no way either of them deserves to be a target of such speculation.’
Gary Lineker
Match Of The Day host Gay Lineker also spoke out to clear his name on Saturday.
‘Hate to disappoint the haters but it’s not me,’ he tweeted.
The Sun had described the unnamed accused presenter of being on a six-figure salary, with Gary taking home a wage between £1,350,000 and £1,354,999 (as revealed in the BBC summer statement) he did not fit the alleged description anyway.
Nicky Campbell
Nicky Campbell joined the stars denying involvement and going so far as to say he would take legal action against anyone who wrongly named him online.
The BBC Radio 5 Live presenter posted a website screenshot on Twitter which said: ‘Thank you for contacting the Metropolitan Police Service to report your crime.
Campbell also directly responded to several Twitter users who appeared to falsey accuse him on the site, telling them ‘please delete these or I will sue you’ and ‘coming for you’.
He added: ‘I think it’s important to take a stand. There’s just too many of these people on social media. Thanks for your support friends.’
Nihal Arthanayake
BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake also posted to Twitter to explain why he has been absent from work.
‘I’m off air because of the tennis. Like I am every year. Back on air 17th July,’ wrote the broadcaster.
Addressing the original story, a BBC spokesperson said: ’We treat any allegations very seriously and we have processes in place to proactively deal with them.
‘As part of that, if we receive information that requires further investigation or examination we will take steps to do this.
‘That includes actively attempting to speak to those who have contacted us in order to seek further detail and understanding of the situation.’
