Huw Edwards: The fall from grace of one of TV’s most recognisable faces

Huw Edwards was one of the most recognisable faces on TV before his glittering career came to an end amid a scandal that ended with him receiving a suspended prison sentence.

The 63-year-old was the BBC’s highest-paid newsreader and presented the News At Ten for decades before he pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children in late July.

Edwards was regarded as the best-known face of BBC News and was seen as a safe pair of hands to guide the country through major events including the late Queen’s death, which he announced to the nation in September 2022.

Edwards was spared jail and the judge at Westminster Magistrates’ Court said it would not be “an exaggeration” to say his “long-earned reputation is in tatters.”

He had earned a reputation as a respected veteran broadcaster before he resigned from the corporation in April following a furore amid allegations, separate to the charges he later faced, about making payments to a young person for sexually explicit photos.

The newsreader was front and centre in live broadcasts of election coverage, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 and Platinum Jubilee in 2022, the wedding of the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011, the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2018, and the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh in 2021.

When the BBC was looking for someone to take over election coverage from the long-serving David Dimbleby in 2019, it was Edwards who was chosen.

Edwards was also the corporation’s highest-paid newsreader, with a pay bracket of £475,000 to £479,999 for the year 2023/24, before he resigned, according to the BBC’s latest annual report.

This last salary marked an increase from 2022/23, when he was paid between £435,000 and £439,999 for 180 days presenting on BBC One, as well as news specials.

In 2018, it was reported that he had agreed to take a pay cut following revelations over unequal pay for men and women at the BBC.

The broadcaster, who attended Llanelli Grammar School and graduated in French from Cardiff University, was an honorary professor in the School of Journalism, Media and Culture at his old university before he resigned from both his honorary professor title and honorary fellowship following his guilty plea.

In June 2023, Edwards picked up the best live event honour at the Tric Awards for being among those to cover the state funeral of the late Queen, and in February he received the Broadcast Awards’ special recognition award.

In 2012 the BBC won a TV Bafta for Edwards’ coverage of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding and the Welsh newsreader has also won the best on-screen presenter prize at the Bafta Cymru awards numerous times over the years.

Edwards was previously vice president of the National Churches Trust and has appeared on Songs Of Praise.

In a documentary in 2021, Edwards revealed he has had bouts of depression over the last two decades which have left him “bedridden”.

“Like everyone that suffers with depression, you don’t get one bout of it. It comes and goes,” he said.

“For me, it started around 2002 I think. I went down fairly quickly and I couldn’t understand it.”

Speaking on a podcast hosted by Jane Garvey and Fi Glover, Fortunately… With Fi And Jane, he said he decided to share publicly that he has depression as he felt it was “complete hypocrisy” to support organisations such as the Shawmind Foundation or Mind without explaining why.