Carol Vorderman has branded the BBC “sexist” for ”sacking” her the same week bosses “kept on” Huw Edwards – despite “knowing the serious nature of his arrest”. In November 2023, Vorderman was forced out of her BBC Radio Wales show because she was “not prepared to lose” her voice after the introduction of the corporation’s new social media guidelines. The broadcaster , 62, who had hosted the Saturday morning programme since 2018, said she had decided to “continue to criticise the UK government” following the crackdown on BBC employees sharing their opinions on social media amid an impartiality row with Gary Lineker.
The presenter said that these changes to her radio contract were “non-negotiable”, and would have seen her unable to share social media posts about her political views. That same week, the BBC decided to continue paying former newsreader Huw Edwards’s salary despite being aware police had arrested him on child abuse image charges. In July, following Edwards’s official resignation, the former newsreader pleaded guilty to making child sex abuse images .
Vorderman told The Times : “BBC management made two decisions about two presenters within 24 hours. One was to sack me for five innocuous tweets. The other, knowing the serious nature of Huw’s arrest, was to keep him on and carry on paying his salary.
I mean...
no sexism!” Edwards has since been asked to hand back the salary he earned from the corporation after being arrested .