Some of the BBC's biggest male presenters have denied their involvement in being the "household name presenter" embroiled in an alleged sex scandal. An unnamed presenter has been accused of paying a teenager £36,000 in total for sexually explicit photos, reports the Mirror.
The mother of the child, alleged to have been 17 years old when the payments originated, claims the money was used to fund a cocaine addiction. The anonymous teenager went from a "happy-go-lucky" child to a "ghost-like" drug addict in a just a few years.
The mother went to The Sun with the allegations, as she said she "felt sick" whenever she saw the alleged presenter on television. She also claimed she went to the BBC seven weeks ago to complain, but was unhappy with their response.
The accused presenter had been partying with BBC bosses at an awards do after the allegations were reported. A fellow party guest said: "If this man was aware of what was hanging over him he certainly didn't show it."
The reports have led to frenzied speculation on social media with many BBC stars choosing to speak out and clear their names. Read on below to find out which BBC presenters have denied their involvement.
Rylan Clark
Rylan was the first high-profile star to distance himself from the allegations, as he warned trolls: "Take my name out ya mouths."
Rylan is currently in Italy filming for a new television show, and cleared himself after seeing his name among those being rumoured in the sex scandal.
The BBC Radio Two presenter said: "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."
Jeremy Vine
Just hours after Rylan made his post, his fellow BBC Radio Two presenter Jeremy Vine also took to social media to deny any allegations.
Writing on Twitter, the father-of-two said: "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."
Jeremy also liked a tweet from a supportive observer of the current scandal, who said he "did not deserve" to be targeted alongside Rylan.
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
The former footballer and Match of the Day host also spoke out on Saturday to clear his name.
He tweeted: "Hate to disappoint the haters but it's not me."
The Sun had described the accused presenter of taking home a six-figure salary, which had rumours circulating around Gary.
With Gary taking home between £1,350,000 and £1,354,999 - as revealed in the BBC summer statement - he didn't fit the alleged description from the publication.
Nicky Campbell
BBC Radio Five Live presenter Nicky Campbell joined in on the stars denouncing their involvement, and noted that he would take legal action against anyone who tried to wrongly name him.
Nicky posted a website screenshot on Twitter which said: "Thank you for contacting the Metropolitan Police Service to report your crime."
He also directly responded to people on social media who appeared to falsely accuse him, saying "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
Fellow radio presenter Nihal Arthanayake also took to social media to explain his absence from work.
He said: "I'm off air because of the tennis. Like I am every year. Back on air 17th July."
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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