Yahoo News Jeremy Vine feared for his safety after being linked to BBC presenter scandal
The BBC Radio 2 host has called upon BBC presenter at heart of the scandal to come forward
Watch: Jeremy Vine has said the anonymous presenter should come forward
Jeremy Vine has confessed he feared for his own personal safety after being linked to the BBC presenter sex scandal.
The BBC Radio 2 host was one of the first personalities to publicly deny he was the unidentified presenter accused of paying a teenager for explicit pictures in an investigation published by The Sun newspaper, after his name began to circulate on social media.
Vine, 58, has now called for the anonymous presenter to come forward for the benefit of all the other people caught up in the rumours.
Read more: Richard Bacon hits out at Jeremy Vine over BBC presenter scandal
The Channel 5 TV presenter said on his show Jeremy Vine On 5: “I had a situation: I was going to see Bruce Springsteen at the weekend and my wife said, ‘Are you going to be safe there?’
“That’s how serious this thing is, and she gave me a baseball cap and said ‘You better wear this’.”
Vine revealed he knows the unnamed presenter and is also worried about their personal safety.
He said: “I know the individual concerned. I am very worried about his state of mind and what this is doing to him . I haven’t spoken to him but I gather from somebody who has, that he is described as ‘angry’ and keen to ‘play it long.’
"Now, to me, that means he wants to be anonymous as long as possible hoping that one day he can walk back in the building.”
“It may be that he is in some sort of terrible crisis where they are unable to judge what’s right and what’s wrong anymore. I don’t know."
Vine called upon the presenter to reveal their identity.
He said: “I think it’s better for him if he does, I think he needs to.
“He will have to answer this, and what’s happening is all this stuff is aggregating with no response.
“Now, he must have a defence, he must have one. Maybe he’s going to say it’s all a misunderstanding? Well I assume it.
“But the idea that he can just remain anonymous for ever and then one day walk back into the building with his ID pass, oh no, that’s not going to happen.”
BBC presenter scandal: Second person makes claims about unnamed star (Sky)
BBC defends refusal to name top presenter at centre of scandal (AFP)
BBC sex scandal claims 'rubbish and untrue', says young person's lawyer (Evening Standard)
Cabinet minister says he will not use privilege to name BBC presenter (Guardian)
What the BBC has said about scandal (Yahoo News UK)
Vine had tweeted: "I’m starting to think the BBC Presenter involved in the scandal should now come forward publicly. These new allegations will result in yet more vitriol being thrown at perfectly innocent colleagues of his. And the BBC, which I’m sure he loves, is on its knees with this. But it is his decision and his alone.
I’m starting to think the BBC Presenter involved in the scandal should now come forward publicly. These new allegations will result in yet more vitriol being thrown at perfectly innocent colleagues of his. And the BBC, which I’m sure he loves, is on its knees with this.
But it…— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) July 11, 2023
Gary Lineker, Nicky Campbell and Rylan Clark are also among the BBC employees to speak out to distance themselves from the BBC presenter scandal.
Following the publication of the story on Friday 7, July, names quickly begun to circulate on social media, linking them with no evidence, to the sex scandal involving an unnamed presenter, whose gender has not been confirmed.
The broadcaster has launched an investigation after a story in The Sun claimed a star at the corporation, who has been suspended, paid a teenager more than £35,000 over three years for sexually explicit photos.
It is thought a complaint was made to the BBC in May, raising concerns over a seeming lack of urgency to deal with the matter.
Rylan Clark tweeted: "I won’t sit back and have my name attached to something that has nothing to do with me. I responded originally because my name amongst others was trending on social media yesterday morning.
"I ask all media outlets to please be careful with their subtext when using my photo surrounding such serious stories. People don’t always read the full text. Thanks."
Gary Lineker said: "Hate to disappoint the haters but it’s not me."
Read more: BBC presenter scandal is sleazy and depressing - but at the heart of this a family is suffering
BBC Radio 5 Live's Nicky Campbell shared screenshots showing one such accusation and evidence of a report filed with the Metropolitan Police.
He wrote: "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."
