Former BBC presenter's brilliant career in ruins

Huw Edwards was one of the most famous faces on television before his glittering career ended in a scandal that resulted in a suspended prison sentence.

The 63-year-old was the BBC's highest-paid newsreader and hosted the programme “News At Ten” for decades before pleading guilty in late July to taking indecent images of children.

Edwards was considered BBC News' best-known face and was seen as a trusted leader to guide the country through major events, including the death of the late Queen, which he announced to the nation in September 2022.

The disgraced news anchor made headlines this summer after admitting to having 41 indecent images on WhatsApp, including seven extremely serious ones.

Edwards was spared a prison sentence and the judge at Westminster Magistrates' Court said it would not be an “exaggeration” to say his “long-built reputation was in tatters”.

He had built a reputation as a respected veteran broadcaster before he left the company in April amid uproar following allegations that he had paid a young person for sexually explicit photographs – allegations that were separate from the charges he later faced.

The newsreader has been on the front row for live 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.

Edwards was also the BBC's voice at Trooping the Colour and the Festival of Remembrance.

When the BBC was looking for a successor to long-serving David Dimbleby for election coverage in 2019, the choice fell on Edwards.

According to the BBC's latest annual report, Edwards was also the corporation's highest-paid news anchor before his resignation, with a salary of between £475,000 and £479,999 for 2023/24.

This latest salary represented an increase from 2022/23, when he received between £435,000 and £439,999 for 180 days as a presenter on BBC One and for news specials.

In 2018, it was reported that he had agreed to a pay cut after it was revealed that there was unequal pay between men and women at the BBC.

Edwards said in 2021 that, as he approached his 60th birthday, he was considering his future as presenter of News At Ten.

The radio presenter, who attended Llanelli Grammar School and graduated in French from Cardiff University, was an honorary professor at his old university's School of Journalism, Media and Culture before resigning from both his title of honorary professor and his honorary fellowship following his guilty plea.

In June 2023, Edwards received the award for Best Live Event at the Tric Awards for being among those covering the late Queen's state funeral, and in February he received the Broadcast Awards' special recognition award.

In 2012, Edwards received a TV BAFTA for the BBC for his coverage of the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. In addition, the Welsh newsreader has won the Best On-Screen Presenter award at the Bafta Cymru Awards several times over the years.

Edwards was previously Vice President of the National Churches Trust and performed with Songs Of Praise.

Like everyone who suffers from depression, you don't have a single bout of it. It comes and goes

He has also made documentaries for the BBC, including Wales: Who Do We Think We Are?, and spoke about his depression in Huw Edwards Is 60 on S4C.

In a 2021 documentary, Edwards revealed that he had suffered from depression for the past two decades, leaving him “bedridden.”

“Like anyone else who suffers from depression, you don't have a one-off bout. Depression comes and goes,” he said.

“For me, I think it started around 2002. It went downhill pretty quickly and I couldn't understand it.”

Speaking on the podcast 'Luckily… with Fi and Jane', hosted by Jane Garvey and Fi Glover, he said he decided to go public with his depression because he thought it was “utter hypocrisy” to support organisations like the Shawmind Foundation or Mind without saying why.