Jeremy Vine has hit back at claims he could be the unnamed BBC star who allegedly paid a teenager more than £35,000 for sexually explicit pictures.
The 58-year-old claimed "it certainly ain't me" after it was alleged an unnamed star at the broadcaster has been accused of handing over huge cash sums in return for explicit images from a 17-year-old.
The mother of the alleged victim claims her teen used the money to fund an addiction to crack cocaine, blaming the TV star for "destroying her child's life" reports the Mirror.
The BBC reports that the presenter in question is not scheduled to be on air in the next few days but the corporation is understood to be looking into the claims.
Taking to his Twitter account this afternoon, Vine 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."
The radio personality's tweet followed colleague Rylan Clark issuing a similar statement on Friday.
The former X-Factor star told accusers: "Not sure why my name's 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."
On Thursday, the teen's mother - who made the allegations - told the Sun that she "feels sick" when she sees the presenter and "blames him for destroying her child's life".
It is believed that the family of the concerned recipient approached the state-funded broadcaster on May 19, with the mum claiming that she pleaded with the BBC to get the presenter to "stop sending cash".
The teenager - who is remaining anonymous - allegedly went from a "happy-go-lucky" teen to a "ghost-like" addict in just a number of years, the publication reports.
Addressing the original story, a BBC spokesperson told the Mirror: "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. If we get no reply to our attempts or receive no further contact that can limit our ability to progress things but it does not mean our enquiries stop.
"If, at any point, new information comes to light or is provided – including via newspapers – this will be acted upon appropriately, in line with internal processes."
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