For many years, he was a familiar face in countless living rooms, anchoring the BBC’s renowned News At Ten.

With an air of calm authority, Huw Edwards became a trusted figure, particularly during momentous state events. It was he who delivered the solemn news of Queen Elizabeth II’s passing. However, his storied career came to a sudden halt last July when he admitted guilt at Westminster Magistrates’ Court for creating indecent images of children.

Fast forward a little over a year, and it seems the Welsh broadcaster is cautiously edging back into the public eye.

In a recent move, Edwards shared a new black-and-white professional headshot, sporting a pensive expression and a neatly trimmed beard.

Furthermore, the Daily Mail reports that Edwards has re-opened his Instagram account, which is followed by 94,000 users. This platform once offered a glimpse into his daily work life and served as a means to connect with aspiring young and junior male colleagues in the broadcasting industry.

While he has not posted on the platform since July 5, 2023 – just two days before a tabloid newspaper exposed how a BBC presenter was paying a young male in exchange for intimate pictures and videos of himself – Edwards has also opened a new Facebook account to keep in touch with his supporters and friends.

And it seems the 64-year-old has been rewarded with a surprising surge of support from former colleagues, which is yet another potential embarrassment for the beleaguered BBC.

Last month, Huw Edwards posted what appears to be a new professional headshot in black and white, posing with a determined expression and a stubbly beard

‘Bosses will surely be bewildered that this will remind viewers of the PR nightmare,’ one insider told the Daily Mail.

Despite the abhorrent nature of the material Edwards admitted he’d possessed – 13 of the illegal images were in category A, the most serious, including one of a child as young as seven – it seems he retains the backing of some loyal supporters.

They include former BBC staffers who, 17 months on from his sentencing, seem delighted at his return to social media.

His online pals on Facebook include former BBC colleague Mike Longley, former presenter and ex-head of music for BBC Wales.

Longley made it clear he continues to back Edwards and criticised the BBC for how they treated the disgraced star.

‘Hi Huw, we’ve met several times at BBC Llandaff,’ said Longley. ‘Just wanted to say the way the corporation treated you was and still is a disgrace. Miss your awesome style of work. Hope you are OK.’

Edwards, a father of five, has taken advantage of Facebook’s privacy settings to hide some posts and replies from view. But much remains visible to the public.

Calm and unwavering, Edwards was trusted as the sober face of state occasions – he was the man who told the nation the late Queen Elizabeth had passed away

Edwards’s career collapsed in ruins when he pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to making indecent images of children

Choosing a red dragon from the flag of Wales as his profile picture, Edwards states, briefly, that he is a journalist and broadcaster.

Friends standing by Edwards on his new Facebook account include Ben Bawden, a former programme director with the BBC, who previously worked on children’s programme Newsround, and Ben Ando, who spent more than a decade as a BBC crime and general news correspondent.

Former BBC Radio Wales broadcaster Wyn Thomas is another Facebook friend. Commenting on Edwards’s profile, he remarked: ‘Looking good Huw.’

Edwards’s fans include local politicians, with councillor Terry Davies of Plaid Cymru, who represents the Tyisha ward in Llanelli, writing in Welsh: ‘You’re worth the world Huw’.

Councillor Chris Bissex-Foster of Labour for Aberbargoed was another to share her good wishes.

One friend remarked: ‘Looking good Huw. Best memories x.’ Yet another told him to ‘hurry back’ while one said how Huw’s absence from public life was a ‘huge loss’.

Visitors to Edwards’s Facebook account can find a photograph of the disgraced presenter with his mother, Aerona Prothero, holding champagne flutes together as she smiles for the camera.

One friend branded the snap ‘so precious’ while another told the presenter he needed ‘to be looked after’.

Edwards still appears to have BBC and celebrity followers on his old – and now re-activated – Instagram account too.

It could be the case that they’d been following Edwards before the account was deleted and were automatically shown to be re-following once the handle was re-activated.

Edwards has not reinstated his old X (formerly Twitter) account, which once boasted more than 187,000 followers.

The Daily Mail can reveal Edwards has also reactivated his Instagram account, which was once the place where he messaged junior male colleagues

Edwards admitted he possessed abhorrent materials – 13 of the illegal images were judged to belong to category A, the most serious, including one of a child as young as seven

When news first broke of his arrest, Edwards took a defiant stance ‘liking’ a tweet from a fan that read: ‘The Sun has made the most serious allegations about a BBC presenter. Now needs to provide evidence or potentially face the mother of all libel actions.’

The presenter was last pictured back in August on a visit to a supermarket in Swansea shortly before his birthday. He was carrying three mini bottles of prosecco.

Although his wife of three decades, Vicky Flind, is reported to have filed for divorce, Edwards was still wearing a wedding ring.

Flind was the one who formally acknowledged that her husband was the anonymous BBC star at the centre of the initial tabloid allegations.

At the time, she issued a statement saying she was naming him in order to protect both Edwards’s wellbeing and their children.

Edwards was among the BBC’s best-paid figures, with its published accounts putting him in a pay bracket of between £475,000 and £479,999 for 2023/24, his last year with the corporation.

Bosses have demanded he pay back a staggering £200,000, the licence-fee-funded wages he had received between his initial arrest and eventual dismissal.

To date, he has not repaid a penny.