There’s no doubt that Huw Edwards has had plenty of time to reflect on his disturbing crimes over the past 18 months.
For, while he was once the BBC’s go-to news figurehead, I’m told most of his time is now spent caring for his elderly mother Aerona at her dormer bungalow in the Welsh village where he grew up.
‘He goes for a walk, or a run, and he hasn’t given up on his boxing,’ says a friend of the fallen star. ‘But he isn’t working. His mother is his priority. He’s still under probation so he is at hers caring for her several hours a day. He says he is with his mum most of the time. That’s his life now.’
That said, in recent weeks there have been other distractions for Huw – namely his attempt to make a professional comeback.
Even former fans of his have been left staggered by this development, while I’m told his victims are ‘absolutely enraged’.
The catalyst for Huw revealing his plans to step back into the limelight was recent Channel 5 drama Power: The Downfall Of Huw Edwards, which stars Martin Clunes as the newsreader.
Huw is angry the channel gave him little time to respond to the portrayal, something he made clear in a statement issued to the Daily Mail last weekend.
‘[They] made no attempt to check with me the truth of any aspect of their narrative before going ahead with the production,’ he said. ‘They belatedly asked for a response after the drama had been made, while reserving the right to edit any such response.
Huw Edwards is angry that Channel 5 gave him little time to respond to his portrayal in drama Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards
Martin Clunes portrayed the disgraced newsreader in the Channel 5 drama alongside Osian Morgan as the young victim
‘They also refused to disclose whether any of those making allegations had been paid for their contributions.’
Given this perceived grievance, he has now vowed to tell his side of the story. Many may feel that a man convicted of possessing indecent images of children – a crime for which he received a six-month sentence, suspended for two years after he admitted to the three charges – deserves no right of reply. Any crime against a child surely speaks for itself.
Edwards has also enraged his former BBC colleagues – and licence-fee payers – by refusing to return £200,000 paid to him after his arrest. And he is just as adamant about having the final word.
The reason for his determination to give his side of the story publicly is, I can exclusively reveal, because he desperately wants to win his family back.
Friends of Edwards, 64, have told me he is utterly driven to make amends for the sake of his family – with whom relations remain ‘strained’.
One source close to him tells me this is especially the case with ex-wife Vicky Flind and their five children.
‘Huw wants to be able to look his family in the face and say, “I know where I went wrong”,’ his friend says.
‘Yes, he wants people to have a different opinion of him – but he knows that’s not really going to change. Huw doesn’t want to make another statement. He wants to go into detail. He’s hoping for something television-related or YouTube. It won’t be a TikTok account. He wants it to be visual so he can look people in the eye. Words are no good. He wants people to see his remorse and show he realises what he has done.’
In recent days Huw has been visited by his new publicist, Barry Tomes. Tomes tells me he drove to Huw’s mother’s home last week, where he received a ‘bear hug’ from his client. He confides: ‘People ask me what he was like. Well he didn’t do cartwheels, but I got out of the car and he gave me a bear hug. He was calm on the surface, he was very courteous.
‘He didn’t attempt to hide. We had some tea and talked.’
It seems like a bizarre career decision from Tomes, a veteran PR specialist.
His past client list includes singer Lulu, glamorous girlband The Saturdays and The Beach Boys, whom he worked with on and off for over 45 years.
Tomes, who was on Good Morning Britain recently to explain his reasoning behind working with Huw, will also meet the former TV star next week to ‘discuss further working arrangements’.
This all comes despite Huw’s claims that his mental health continues to be under strain.
That has been a constant thread in his defence since his crimes were first revealed.
After he was accused by The Sun of paying a young person for sexually explicit photos in July 2023, his then-wife Vicky released a statement saying he was receiving in-patient care as his mental health had deteriorated so badly.
And in his statement last week, Huw again referenced his mental health, as he lambasted Channel 5 and Wonderhood, the production company behind the show, which is the network’s most-watched programme this year.
‘I offer my sincere and profound apologies for what I did,’ he said. ‘I am making an effort to produce my own account of these terrible events. This is a slow process given the fragile state of my health. I have been open about my struggle with persistent mental illness over a period of 25 years.
Friends of Edwards say he wants to make amends for the sake of his family – especially ex-wife Vicky Flind and their five children
PR specialist Barry Tomes’s past client list includes singer Lulu, glamorous girlband The Saturdays and The Beach Boys, whom he worked with on and off for over 45 years
‘What is less well known is the severity of that condition, which was managed successfully until the downward spiral which led to an appalling outcome.
‘Mental illness is misunderstood by many but can never be an excuse for criminality. It can, however, at least help explain why people sometimes behave in shocking and reprehensible ways, and why things fell apart for me in the way they did.’
Tomes tells me Huw is not yet well enough to start his comeback. ‘He is still on edge,’ he says. ‘He is still having treatment… Huw certainly will speak out, but not now. He’s not ready.
‘He’s not ready from a health perspective. If he is going to speak out, it needs space. Eighteen months after a court case isn’t a big enough space.’
It is a hell of a reach for Edwards to consider returning to public life. His downfall saw him lose everything, including his £475,000-a-year salary. It has also emerged he has reduced the price of his £4.75million family home as he and his ex-wife try to sell it.
It seems Huw knows there are limits to what any comeback could look like today. ‘Huw has no ambition to go back into television,’ says a source.
‘The only thing Huw will do at some point is have his say. He knows people wonder how someone with such an amazing life and career came to do these despicable things. People once liked him a lot and wonder how it happened and ask what made him do it.’
I’m told he would never have released his statement if it hadn’t been for the Channel 5 drama, which tells the story of a young man in Wales he groomed.
The source says: ‘He had to say something and that’s what he has done.’
Tomes, meanwhile, hints at what might come in the future.
‘You can’t keep apologising because it devalues it,’ he says. ‘Huw has got to apologise with sincerity. But I’ve always had an opinion that you don’t say sorry, you show sorry.’
Whether any of those who adored him will be convinced by this remains to be seen.
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