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The award-winning broadcaster Kaye Adams has spoken of her distress after she was taken off air by BBC Radio Scotland as a result of an unspecified “conduct complaint”, resulting in relentless media speculation.
In her first public comment on the matter, Adams said: “After three of the most distressing weeks of my professional life and seeing my previously untarnished name publicly dragged through the mud, BBC Scotland has still not provided me with any details of the allegations which have been made against me.”
Adams, who is also a regular host on ITV’s Loose Women, has not presented the Mornings radio show since 6 October but BBC News reported that she has “not permanently left” the corporation, which she joined in 2010 to host the daily phone-in programme.
In a statement to the Mail on Sunday, which first broke the news of her suspension, Adams added that she had been “inundated with messages of support from people I have dealt with both personally and professionally over the decades and I thank them from the bottom of my heart”.
The statement comes as unnamed BBC sources and unnamed former colleagues continue to be quoted in the media regarding the possible nature of the allegations against her and alleged concerns about her “pro-Labour bias”.
Adams was briefly suspended from hosting her show in 2011 and issued a public apology after she tweeted that Boris Johnson, then the mayor of London, should “piss off back to boarding school” when he called for tough sanctions on the London rioters.
The latest complaint has been reported to centre on a “shouting incident” at a debrief session, which was attended by BBC Scotland’s new head of audio and events, Victoria Easton Riley.
Adams denied raising her voice. “I remember Ms Easton Riley standing at the back of a debrief meeting – in an open-plan office – on one occasion, but there was certainly no shouting on my part,” she said. “That’s not my style.”
The Mornings show is believed to be one of a number at risk in a sweeping shake-up planned by Easton Riley, who has been tasked with revitalising the station. There have also been rumours that Adams walked out of a meeting with the new head.
Adams said: “I can confirm that I have never had an in-person meeting with Victoria Easton Riley and the widely reported meeting of 8 October, from which I am supposed to have ‘stormed out’, categorically did not happen.”
ITV has confirmed that Adams’s position on Loose Women, where she has appeared as an anchor since 1999, will remain unchanged.
A BBC Scotland spokesperson said: “We would not comment on individuals. If any complaints or concerns are raised we have robust internal processes in place to manage these.”
The complaint is reported to have been brought under the BBC’s Call It Out scheme, which was launched earlier this year in the wake of the Huw Edwards scandal. The Guardian understands that it is not unusual under this new process, which happens prior to any formal disciplinary action, for there to be a delay in presenting detailed complaints to the individual involved while initial investigations continue. It is up to the investigating manager whether that individual remains at work in the meantime.
