One of the BBC’s highest-earning presenters has said he is “deeply sorry” after a newspaper report alleged he had shared a sexually explicit photograph with staff.
A number of claims were made about Stephen Nolan in The Irish News on Tuesday, including that he had sent the image of reality TV star Stephen Bear in 2016.
It was reported that the presenter shared the image when he had wanted to book Bear as a guest on his TV show.
Bear, a former Celebrity Big Brother winner, was jailed for 21 months earlier this year after being convicted of revenge porn and voyeurism.
Addressing the allegations on his morning radio show on Radio Ulster on Friday, Nolan said: “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. It is just that the BBC has processes in place to deal with staff complaints and I do need to totally respect those processes.
“They have got to be confidential for them to work.
“I can say one thing though and it is that 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.”
