The scandal has now been frontpage news and the lead story on radio and television news bulletins for six successive days
The scandal has now been frontpage news and the lead story on radio and television news bulletins for six successive days AFP

Allegations mushroomed Wednesday against a star BBC presenter accused of paying a teenager for sexually explicit pictures, as three more people came forward with complaints.

Fellow BBC star Jeremy Vine urged the presenter to publicly identify himself to prevent further reputational damage to the broadcaster and false accusations against others.

"I know his survival instinct has kicked in... but my God look at the damage to the BBC, look at the damage to his friends, to those falsely accused -- and the longer he leaves it the worse it will be for him," the radio show host said Wednesday on a television show he hosts for another channel.

Former BBC North America editor Jon Sopel, meanwhile, described the star at the centre of the scandal as "extremely angry" over how the story had unfolded.

"It is fair to say that the presenter at the heart of this is also extremely angry over a lot of The Sun coverage and is convinced they're trying to dig and find new dirt," Sopel said on LBC Radio's The News Agents podcast.

The BBC itself reported on Tuesday that another person in their 20s had come forward to say they received "threatening messages from the unnamed high-profile figure".

Hours later, The Sun daily -- which broke the original story last Friday -- alleged he also broke Covid lockdown rules to meet another young person he met on a dating site.

The tabloid said in a report Wednesday it had seen messages that "suggest that as well as visiting the 23-year-old's home the star sent cash and asked for a picture".

The alleged pandemic breach has a particular resonance in the UK as the BBC was at the time reporting on the country's third lockdown and how it was being enforced.

Covid rule breaking in Downing Street also led to the long-running "Partygate" scandal that brought down former British prime minister Boris Johnson.

Social media has been awash with speculation about the identity of the man, but the BBC has defended its decision not to name him.

A fourth person also told The Sun the star sent "creepy" messages containing love hearts and kisses on Instagram when they were aged 17.

The claims first emerged in an article published Friday in The Sun in which the alleged victim's family said the presenter had paid a total of GBP35,000 ($45,000) for the pictures.

The family said their child had used the money to fuel a crack cocaine addiction, prompting lawyers acting for the young person to deny the claims.

The scandal has now been frontpage news and the lead story on radio and television news bulletins for six successive days.

It comes after the BBC -- whose brand is built on public trust -- was rocked in recent years by scandals which saw some of their biggest names revealed as serial sex offenders.

The BBC has said London's Metropolitan Police asked them to pause their own internal investigation while the force looks at the allegations.