Huw Edwards sexually assaulted a man in the toilets of an exclusive private members’ club – and then bragged that he ‘liked the danger of getting caught’ when urged to stop, MailOnline can reveal.
The shamed BBC star faces a possible jail sentence after pleading guilty to making indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine.
But before details of his vile crimes emerged, leading to his dramatic fall from grace, Edwards, 62, met up with a man behind his wife’s back – and aggressively groped his penis while he went to the toilet during a lunch date.
Father-of-five Huw befriended the man on Instagram – and before their second lunch date text him: ‘You are getting assaulted later… ‘I’m so f****** horny it’s indecent.’
A man has revealed that Huw Edwards sexually assaulted him in the toilet of the Ivy Members Club in the West End of London in 2022. Pictured, Edwards leaving Westminster Magistrates’ Court in July
Edwards sent a WhatsApp message to the man saying ‘you’re getting assaulted in the Ivy’
In an exclusive interview, the man told MailOnline about the sex attack he suffered in the high-profile Ivy Members Club in the West End of London as they had lunch there in January 2022.
The man started following Edwards, who earned £475,000-a-year as one of the most recognisable faces on British television, anchoring national events like the general election and the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, on Instagram in early 2021.
He was aged 27 at the time and almost immediately got a direct message back from the BBC star saying ‘Welcome.’
After a few weeks of exchanging Instagram messages, the two then swapped phone numbers and started using WhatsApp to communicate.
Speaking about his encounter, the man said: ‘Huw followed me into the toilets of the Ivy Club where we were eating and while I was standing at the urinals, he grabbed my penis and attempted to masturbate me.
‘I backed away. I was very shocked because this was not in a cubicle, it was in the open urinals area. Anybody could have walked in. I asked him: “What are you doing? Please stop.” But he just kept on saying: “I like the danger of getting caught.” And then he said: “I love you.”
He went on: ‘‘One of the most shocking things was how brazenly aggressive he was. I think he got off on the fact that he was a powerful figure and that he could get away with grabbing me in the toilets like that.’
MailOnline has also seen a series of WhatsApp exchanges in which Edwards, once considered a national treasure, sends the man raunchy messages and explicit pictures of his private parts as well as other photographs of himself.
Astonishingly, a brazen Edwards boasted about what he planned to do during the Ivy lunch date.
As they made arrangements for their meeting, Edwards bragged: ‘You’re getting assaulted in the Ivy.
He then added: ‘I’m so f***ing horny it’s indecent.’
The man said he still agreed to go to lunch because he was in awe of the BBC star and was star-struck by his fame.
Other messages underline the sexually-charged communication between the two men with Edwards in one exchange urging his younger companion not to wear any underpants for their date – but joking that he must wear them because he is on BBC news later that night.
Edwards wrote: ‘See you at 1pm beautiful boy xxx.’
The man responded: ‘See you then xxxx.
‘Ivy club is just smart casual and not shirt and tie right?’
He then joked: ‘No pants policy x.’
Edwards replied: ‘Yes but I have to wear some or tonight’s Ten could be my last.
‘As for you its non-negotiable.’
In another message, he asked: ‘And when do I get you in my bed.’
In another series of messages Edwards wrote: ‘Sorry to say this…But…It’s unavoidable…I f**king love you ***’
Edwards also revealed his obsession with the man in other messages, writing: ‘Anyone eying you up I’ll kill them.
‘You’re mine.
‘Seriously feel very possessive about you.’
In other Whatsapp messages Edwards declared his love for the man, then 27
Disgraced BBC star Edwards admitted three counts of making indecent pictures of children between 2020 and 2022. Pictured, arriving at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in July
In court last month, the disgraced veteran broadcaster was found to have received 377 pictures and video clips, including 41 of children.
They included seven category A images, the most serious, two of which showed abuse involving a child aged about seven and nine.
He kept seven category ‘A’ images on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by a paedophile called Alex Williams.
The man said: ‘When I heard the news he’d pleaded guilty to having images of underage children on his phone, I felt physically sick. Any modicum of sympathy I once had for Edwards is long gone and I feel ashamed to have ever met him.’
Recalling further details of his lunch with Edwards at the Ivy, the man claimed that prior to being aggressively groped in the toilets the newsreader had been overly tactile and that he constantly had to ‘fight him off’ as they ate.
He said: ‘As we were eating, he was being very touchy, feely. He was touching my arm, legs and getting very close. I kept on batting his hand away. It was quite embarrassing because it was Huw Edwards, and everyone was looking over.
‘I kept on asking him: “What are you doing?” And he would reply: “I like the danger of getting caught.” His tone was playful, but it was also quite aggressive.’
He added that over that lunch Edwards also offered to regularly pay him money or his rent and that the two also discussed hiring a room for the night.
The man said: ‘I felt as if he wanted a toy boy, but I wasn’t interested in that. During the lunch he said things like: “I’m in love with you; ‘I’m your boyfriend now; Anyone looks at you, I will kill them.”
Following the incident in the toilets, the man said that he returned to his table with Edwards ‘as if nothing had happened’ but after they left the Ivy, he decided that he no longer wanted to meet him.
Their first date took place in May 2021 at the Langham Hotel, close to BBC headquarters in the West End of London where they had drinks for two hours in its plush bar. It ended amicably and the two men continued to maintain contact via WhatsApp.
They had also spent the weeks leading up to their first meeting exchanging WhatsApp messages.
The man said Edwards groped his penis when he went into the toilet at The Ivy in the West End of London (Pictured, The Ivy)
Edwards was arrested on November 8 last year and charged on June 26. Pictured, he arrives at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in July
The man said: ‘In the messages, it was clear that Edwards was trying to introduce a flirtatious tone. One of the first messages he sent me was accompanied by a love heart. After a while, we arranged to meet in the bar of the Langham.’ The man, who is gay, admitted that he fell for Edwards’ ‘false charm’ and quite ‘fancied him.’
He added: ‘I was looking to have a normal relationship with him. I fancied him all the way until I met him. I was excited to meet someone I looked up to which is why I went on those first two dates.
‘I have a thing for older guys. He’s very charismatic and someone I really liked as a journalist and TV presenter.’
The main continued: ‘Naively, I just wanted to go on a date with him. I was single at the time, and I was excited to meet him, it felt quite surreal that he messaged me on Insta and that we were meeting. We ended the first date on a positive note.
‘I would not hear from him for several weeks and then he would contact me out of the blue and eventually we met for a second time.’
Edwards’ spectacular fall from grace started in July 2023 when a mother claimed in the national media that a BBC presenter, who was not named, had paid her child £30,000 for explicit photos which he used to fund a serious drug problem.
She claimed that this went on for over three years, beginning in 2020 when the boy was 17.
With speculation increasing over the identity of the BBC presenter, just days later, Edwards’ wife, Vicky Flind astonishingly named him as the person at the centre of the allegations.
Five other people, including three BBC employees then came forward claiming they had received inappropriate messages and pictures from Edwards, signalling the beginning of the end for one of the corporation’s leading names.
He was arrested on November 8 last year and charged on June 26. He resigned from his role at BBC three months ago having kept news of his arrest a ‘secret’ from pals, according to former colleagues.
The father-of-five moved out of the family home in Dulwich after separating from his TV producer wife following his arrest.
Edwards is due to be sentenced at Westminster Magistrates Court on 16 September.
In his defence at last month’s hearing, Philip Evans KC told the court that Edwards ‘did not keep any images, did not send any to anyone else and did not and has not sought similar images from anywhere else.’
He added the broadcaster had ‘both mental and physical’ health issues after pleading guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.
But the man who was targeted by him at the Ivy insisted that he has also been left mentally distraught by the incident and regrets not reporting it to the authorities at the time.
He said: ‘The whole thing messed with my head and left me very upset. But I believe that was his intention.
‘It was overwhelmingly predatory. After that incident, I realised that I didn’t want to engage with him anymore.’
He added: The whole thing was very overwhelming, and I was uncomfortable speaking about it, although I did share what happened with close friends. I should have contacted the BBC or the police at the time-that was my mistake.
‘I got on with my life but seeing all this stuff come out now, I know what he’s like. That’s why I feel comfortable speaking about this.’
Edwards was approached for comment.
