By James Simons-
BBC presenter Stephen Nolan(pictured) has finally apologized after a newspaper published allegations he sent sexually explicit photographs of a potential guest.
The Irish News listed claims concerning Mr Nolan including an allegation that he sent images of Stephen Bear to his television production team in 2016.
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Nolan used his Radio Ulster show on Friday to respond to reports that he had shared explicit images of the Celebrity Big Brother winner Stephen Bear.
“We have had days, as you probably know, of headlines about me and the Nolan team in the papers this week,” he told listeners. “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.”
Those processes needed to be confidential, he said. “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.”
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Nolan, 49, presents shows on Radio Ulster, BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Northern Ireland. He is the corporation’s fifth-best-paid on-air presenter and considered the most influential and controversial broadcaster in Northern Ireland.
On Friday, Mr Nolan said an image had been widely available on the internet and he had been “talking to a long-term friend and peer outside of work”.
He said that he was “deeply sorry”.
There has been no confirmation whether Stephen Beer, to whom the explicit images were sent, welcomed the images, or complained abut them.
Questions from The Eye Of Media.Com to BBC NI have failed to establish this.
The entire furore began after The Irish News alleged that in 2016, while the production team on Nolan Live were attempting to book the reality TV contestant Stephen Bear for the programme, Mr Nolan had sent them two sexually explicit images of Bear.
According to the Irish News, the BBC subsequently carried out an investigation in 2018 following a complaint by a member of staff about the images.
Among the other allegations reported in the Irish News were that a BBC staff member had separately made a formal complaint of bullying against Mr Nolan, and that the complaint was not upheld. No mention was made about what the complaint was.
Mr Nolan addressed the allegations at the beginning of his Radio Ulster programme this morning.
“We have had days, as you probably know, of headlines about me and the Nolan team in the papers this week and I am not ignoring the story,” he said.
“It’s just that 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.
“I can say one thing though and that is that I’m 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.”
In December 2022, Bear was found guilty of disclosing a private sexual film after a video of him having sex with a woman was published online.
Mr Nolan also said on his BBC Radio Ulster programme that allegations that members of BBC staff were placed in the audience of the Nolan Live TV show were “completely categorically false”.
Nolan also dismissed claims that he had planted producers in the audience.
“There have been other headlines, too, including a suggestion that we manipulate programmes by planting producers in the studio audience,” he said.
“I’m telling you now and I can say this on the record.
“That is completely categorically false.
“We do not do that in the Nolan team.
“We value our relationship with you far too much to compromise it.”
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