BBC presenter ‘deeply sorry’ after sending sexually explicit pictures of Stephen Bear-Ruth Lawes-Entertainment – Metro

Stephen Nolan addressed claims he sent the image on his radio show (Picture: PA)

BBC broadcaster Stephen Nolan has apologised after sending sexually explicit pictures of former reality star Stephen Bear.

The presenter, 49, denied circulating the image of Bear, who was jailed for revenge porn and voyeurism, among his colleagues at the broadcaster but admitted it was sent to a ‘long-term friend and peer outside of work.’

‘I can say one thing though. 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,’ he said at the start of his radio show on Friday morning.

He added: ‘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, but it is just the BBC has processes in place to deal with staff complaints and I do and need to totally respect those processes. They have got to be confidential for them to work.’

It had been previously claimed Nolan, who fronts Nolan Live on BBC Northern Ireland, as well as hosting a BBC Radio 5 Live show, had sent the pictures to threaten staff to book Bear on his television show in 2016.

Bear, 33, is currently serving a 21-month jail sentence after secretly recording a sex video with Georgia Harrison, 28, on CCTV in his garden in August 2020, and then sharing it online without consent.

The former Celebrity Big Brother star Bear was eventually booked for Nolan Live in 2016, with the programme seeing the two men strip down to their underpants in front of a live audience.

Prior to the show, according to the Irish News, Nolan wrote a message saying: ‘I want Bear!’

He reportedly warned in another: ‘If I don’t get Bear tomorrow night I’m sending more Bear photos.’

The publication claims to have seen messages containing the images, which were described as ‘beyond the pale’ by one of the recipients in an internal complaint sent to BBC Northern Ireland in 2018.

The recipient states in the complaint that the image of Bear’s penis was a ‘deliberate attempt to undermine and embarrass me’, and said they suffered ‘further distress’ by a second picture.

The publication further noted an internal probe took place after the complaint in 2018 and the outcome of the disciplinary process was ‘managed internally’ with ‘appropriate action’ taken, according to the document seen.

In a statement to Irish News on Monday, BBC NI said: ‘We don’t comment on individual staffing matters. The BBC has established processes in place to deal with any workplace-related issues and concerns. These are applied fairly, consistently and with all appropriate safeguards, including in relation to confidentiality.’

This comes just weeks after scandal erupted at the BBC when Huw Edwards was revealed to be the unnamed BBC presenter who paid for sexually explicit images.

The Met police later confirmed there is no evidence of a crime being committed, and Edwards’s wife shortly afterwards released a statement on his behalf.

Vicky Flind said that her husband was ‘suffering from serious mental health issues’ and ‘is now receiving in-patient hospital care where he’ll stay for the foreseeable future’.

Following the announcement, BBC boss Tim Davie said an investigation at the BBC would ‘continue’.

Metro.co.uk has contacted the BBC for comment.

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