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Huw Edwards has criticised Channel 5 for failing to “check with me the truth” before running a drama depicting his downfall.
The former BBC presenter was suspended from his role as a leading news anchor in 2023 after a report in the Sun said he had allegedly paid a teenager £35,000 for intimate images and conversations.
That episode has been dramatised in a new two-part show titled Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards, starring Martin Clunes, which airs from Tuesday at 9pm.
In a statement shared with the Daily Mail, Edwards lambasted the production company Wonderhood, saying: “[They] made no attempt to check with me the truth of any aspect of their narrative before going ahead with the production.
“They belatedly asked for a response after the drama had been made, while reserving the right to edit any such response. They also refused to disclose whether any of those making allegations had been paid for their contributions. Channel 5’s ‘factual drama’ is hardly likely to convey the reality of what happened.”
Edwards, who has not yet seen the show, added: “It is difficult to see how this approach can be considered remotely responsible or fair, or be in compliance with key sections of the Ofcom code on broadcast standards.”
Edwards has also disputed the principal allegations made in the Sun, as the Channel 5 programme notes.
Last week, Channel 5 defended its controversial drama, saying it raised the “urgent” issue of grooming and online safety and gave voice to Edwards’ alleged victim, who said he worked with the programme to tell his side of the story so that “no one who has been silenced feels they are alone”.
Edwards’ statement noted his “regret and remorse” for his crimes. He received a six-month sentence suspended for two years after admitting three charges of possessing indecent images of children as young as seven.
Edwards said: “My deep regret and remorse for the crimes I committed were expressed in court. In pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity, I took full responsibility for my reprehensible actions. I am repelled by the idea that some people enjoy viewing indecent images of children. Every image represents an innocent victim. I offer my sincere and profound apologies for what I did.”
Edwards said he planned to produce his own account of “these terrible events”.
He added: “This is a slow process given the fragile state of my health. I have been open about my struggle with persistent mental illness over a period of 25 years. What is less well known is the severity of that condition, which was managed successfully until the downward spiral, which led to an appalling outcome.
“Mental illness is misunderstood by many but can never be an excuse for criminality. It can, however, at least help explain why people sometimes behave in shocking and reprehensible ways, and why things fell apart for me in the way they did.”
A Channel 5 spokesperson said: “Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards is based on extensive interviews with the victim, his family, the journalists who revealed his story, text exchanges between the victim and Edwards, and court reporting. It has been produced in accordance with Ofcom’s broadcasting code. All allegations made in the film were put to Huw Edwards via his solicitors six weeks before transmission.”
