Stephen Bear speaks outside Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court
BBC presenter Stephen Nolan has said he is “deeply sorry” after claims he shared a sexually explicit photograph of reality TV star Stephen Bear with staff.
It comes after a number of claims were made about the Radio 5 Live presenter on Tuesday, including that he had sent the explicit image of Bear to other members of staff in 2016.
It was alleged the host sent the photo to colleagues in 2016 while he was trying to get them to book the disgraced celebrity as a guest on his TV show, Nolan Live.
Nolan addressed the reports in The Irish News during his morning show on Radio Ulster, telling the audience: “We have had days, as you probably know, of headlines about me and the Nolan team in the papers this week.
“I am not ignoring the story. It is just that the BBC has processes in place to deal with staff complaints and I do need to totally respect those processes.
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“They have got to be confidential for them to work. I can say one thing though and it is that I am sorry. There was a photograph, it was widely available on the internet and I was talking to a long-term friend and peer outside of work. I am deeply sorry.”
It was at the time Bear had just won Celebrity Big Brother that Nolan allegedly sent the photo in 2016.
Bear, a former Celebrity Big Brother winner, was jailed for 21 months earlier this year after being convicted of revenge porn and voyeurism.
Nolan is reportedly the fifth highest paid talent with the BBC, earning between £400,000–£404,999.
In a statement earlier this week, BBC Northern Ireland’s director Adam Smyth said: “There are important considerations of fairness and confidentiality involved in the handling of any workplace-related complaint.
“We take these obligations seriously – and in the interests of everyone involved.
“It is for these reasons that we cannot comment on the specifics of any individual case, who/what it may have involved or its outcome.”
Meanwhile, on BBC’s Radio Ulster programme Nolan addressed allegations that members of BBC staff were placed in the audience of the Nolan Live TV show were “completely categorically false”.
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“There have been other headlines, too, including a suggestion that we manipulate programmes by planting producers in the studio audience,” he said.
“I’m telling you now and I can say this on the record. That is completely categorically false.
“We do not do that in the Nolan team. We value our relationship with you far too much to compromise it.”
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