BBC presenter under pressure from colleagues to come forward

More allegations have been made against suspended star

Colleagues say accused BBC presenter needs to identify himself. Reuters

The suspended presenter at the centre of the BBC storm is facing calls from his colleagues to come forward.

New claims about the anonymous man came to light on Tuesday, including that he had broken lockdown rules to meet an online contact.

Jeremy Vine and Piers Morgan are among the high-profile figures who have called for the unnamed presenter to identify himself for the good of his colleagues at the corporation.

Many media personalities have volunteered statements that they are not the person involved.

On Wednesday, The Sun reported new allegations against the individual that he broke lockdown rules. Its previous allegations were over payments he had made to a teenager for sexually explicit photos.

Vine said the latest allegations would result in “yet more vitriol being thrown at perfectly innocent colleagues” at the BBC.

He is one of several celebrities, including Nicky Campbell, Gary Lineker and Rylan Clark, who have publicly stated that they are not the presenter in question.

Speaking on his Channel 5 show on Wednesday, Vine – who also hosts an afternoon show on BBC Radio 2 – said: “It’s his decision but he needs to come forward now, I think.

“I know his survival instinct has kicked in and I know he saw what happened to Phillip Schofield, but my God look at the damage to the BBC, look at the damage to his friends, to those falsely accused – and the longer he leaves it the worse it will be for him.”

Talk TV host Morgan said the unnamed presenter should come forward “for the good of his colleagues, the BBC and himself”.

“It’s only a matter of time before he loses agency in the situation [and] somebody blurts out in parliament, or on a less responsible network,” he said.

“For the good of his colleagues, the BBC, and himself and his reputation, it is surely time for that presenter to reveal his own identity, and to vow to clear his name and defend himself if that’s what he can do.”

David Keighley, former BBC news producer and director of Newswatch, said the presenter’s continuing anonymity was causing “reputational damage” to the man’s colleagues.

“What needs to be done here is a very thorough investigation, and conclusions can’t be jumped to until we know the full facts,” he said, speaking to Times Radio.

“But at the same time, you’ve got a developing situation, which is because it has been contained in the way it has. And we stress again, we don’t know precisely why that is.

“It is causing reputational damage, not just to the BBC itself, but to other presenters. It’s spreading like a cancer, is the problem.”

Publicist and strategist Mark Borkowski also told Times Radio the presenter could not go unnamed much longer.

“We’ve got a situation where it’s an ongoing car crash and the BBC is so glacial about how they’re dealing with this, because this is a 21st-century problem,” he said.

“They’re dealing with 20thcentury, sort of. communication processes. We’re above it all.

“There’s a heavy legal duty on this and a duty of care, which makes it a nightmare for anybody managing this and to say that, OK, but I don’t believe that it can carry on for much longer that this person is not named.”

BBC director general Tim Davie has ordered a review to “assess how some complaints are red flagged up the organisation”.

He has said the BBC is dealing with a “complex and difficult situation” after the “serious allegations”.