BBC PRESENTER Paddy McGuinness has broken his silence over the ongoing scandal at the company with a hilarious response.
An unnamed prominent male BBC presenter was suspended over the weekend after claims from a mother that he paid £35,000 for explicit images of her child, who is alleged to be 17-years-old.
Due to legalities, no news organization has named the identity of the suspended presenter whilst the child’s mothers claims are being investigated.
The mother made the claims to The Sun who allege that this money is contributing towards her child’s ongoing drug problem.
With many people now speculating over the identity of the presenter, several high-profile celebrities have since responded with promises of legal action against apparent defamatory claims.
Comedian and host of BBC’s Top Gear, McGuiness has himself issued a hilarious response to some of the claims that he is the presenter being investigated in a video yesterday.
McGuiness shared the video of him talking to camera whilst repairing his daughter’s bike.
He starts: “Absolutely gorgeous day today, the perfect day for taking my youngest daughter’s stabilizers off her bike, there’s going to be a few tears and a few grazed knees, but they’ve got to learn.
“All the while, keeping my eye on what’s going on with this ‘who’s the presenter’ malarkey – I tell you what, the Great British press, they are a bunch of cheeky scamps.
“They know what they’re doing, they lob that grenade out there and watch everyone eat themselves on Twitter.
“Naming people publicly, naming people who are totally innocent – it’s bonkers.”
He then jokes: “I even saw a couple of d***heads say it was me – me? There’s no way on God’s green Earth I’m paying 35 grand for a w**k – not happening.”
He continues: “With how long it takes me I work that out at about a grand a stroke, that’s not value for money, not happening in the slightest.
“I mean, I’d pay 35 grand to sue someone for defamation of character – that’s another story.
“35 grand for polishing your trumpet – the mind boggles.”
McGuinness shared the video to Instagram with a series of emojis consisting of a bike, a trumpet, a money bag and a laughing face.
The clip has since received over 25,000 likes and dozens of comments from users left in stitches by the comedian’s side-splitting reply.
One user wrote: ” Brill Paddy. Best response ever. Must be awful with all the speculation love how you have handled it with this response. #NotPaying35kForAWank”
Another commented: “Hahaha, what a bloke! 35k to polish ya trumpet, gold.”
A third said: “I love you, Paddy. You’ve made me laugh which today I thought was impossible.”
Another replied: “To be fair it’s not the media’s fault that the lowlife did what he did.”
The investigation into these claims is ongoing, as is the speculation.
The age of consent in the UK is 16, but a person under the age of 18 is not an adult, with the law stating that they cannot consent to taking part in “indecent photographs”.
However, it must also be noted that the young person’s lawyer issued a statement saying the mother and The Sun had made false allegations.
The lawyer said: “For the avoidance of doubt, nothing inappropriate or unlawful has taken place between our client and the BBC personality and the allegations reported in The Sun newspaper are rubbish.”
In response a spokesperson for the Sun said: “We have reported a story about two very concerned parents who made a complaint to the BBC about the behaviour of a presenter and the welfare of their child.
“Their complaint was not acted upon by the BBC. We have seen evidence that supports their concerns. It’s now time for the BBC to properly investigate.”
The young person’s parents doubled down on their claims yesterday, saying: “It is sad but we stand by our account and we hope they get the help they need.”
“We did this to help – and the presenter has got into their head. How did they afford a lawyer? We are so sad.”
The stepfather said: “We are disappointed they made a statement. It’s not true.”
The BBC’s director-general will face the media today to answer questions as the story develops.
If you need guidance regarding reporting sexual abuse towards children, please visit the NSPCC website or contact them by telephone on 0808 800 5000 or email at help@NSPCC.org.uk.
