.Jimmy Savile molested 72 victims as young as eight at BBC, report reveals
- .First in 1959 when he raped girl, 13; last attack after 2006 Top of the Pops
- .Author of long-awaited £10m report said it 'makes sorry reading' for BBC
- .Junior and middle-ranking managers knew of the abuse but senior bosses have been absolved of blame as they didn't have to give evidence to review
- .Parallel inquiry also found BBC bosses knew Stuart Hall was abusing girls
- .BBC missed five opportunities to stop Savile's five-decade reign of abuse
Jimmy Savile molested 72 victims at the BBC and was still abusing women in 2006 aged 79 when the corporation brought him back to host the last ever Top of the Pops, it emerged today.
The 'monstrous' entertainer indecently assaulted a woman after filming the episode with presenters Edith Bowman and Reggie Yates, a long-awaited report revealed, as further details of the shamed Jim’ll Fix It star's heinous crimes were made public today.
Savile's reign of horrific abuse dates back to 1959 when he raped a 13-year-old girl, before attacks followed 'in the corridors, canteens, staircases and dressing rooms of every BBC premises'.
Other vile crimes exposed included the rape of both a virgin teenager in a hotel and a 15-year-old work experience girl he met in the BBC canteen over a cup of tea.
Twenty one of Savile's female victims were aged 15 or younger, the youngest being eight, while young boys - including an eight-year-old - were also preyed on by the depraved monster.
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Heinous crimes: Jimmy Savile molested 72 victims at the BBC and was still abusing women in 2006 when the corporation brought him back to host the last ever Top of the Pops aged 79 (pictured after the final show)
Savile's reign of abuse dates back to 1959 when he raped a 13-year-old girl, before attacks followed 'in the corridors and dressing rooms of every BBC premises'. He is pictured during the Top of the Pops show in 2006
Revelations: Savile's most recent attack happened in 2006 after filming for Top of the Pops (left), it emerged today, as the three-year review by Dame Janet Smith (right, at a press conference this morning) was published
He even had a ‘London Team’ - a group of schoolgirls he treated like his personal harem - who were regularly waved into his dressing room by a BBC receptionist before the filming of Top of the Pops.
There one victim said she and others 'did whatever Savile told them' before later taking part in the show. Savile arranged for the group to appear on the podium - and in turn on television - but only on the condition that each time he could choose one of the girls to have sex with.
In another incident he had a 19-year-old girl meet him at a portable corporate hospitality cabin in Shepherds Bush, west London, before groping her behind a curtain while smoking a cigar in a smoke-filled room.
When she ran out and complained to Savile’s radio producer Ted Beston the victim 'was treated as if she was being silly', the report by retired judge Dame Janet Smith found.
It also emerged BBC bosses missed five opportunities to snare 'untouchable King Jimmy' - who died in 2011 aged 84 - as he molested victims over a period of five decades.
If staff did dare try and report him they were told 'keep your mouth shut, he is a VIP', the review found, while a parallel inquiry into paedophile Stuart Hall revealed BBC bosses were aware – or should have been – that the It's a Knockout presenter was abusing girls.
Despite the revelations, Dame Janet Smith controversially said the corporation’s failure to stop Savile and Hall was not the fault of senior managers.
It also emerged rumours were abound that Savile owned a caravan he used to drive around and carry out depraved sexual assaults, while the studios where he presented Top of the Pops were said to resemble scenes from a Carry On film.
With the set awash with young girls, staff locked doors and even cupboards to their offices and hospitality rooms amid rumours of what the DJ got up to away from the cameras, one of the BBC's ex-editors said.
The ex-husband of presenter Anne Diamond, Mike Hollingsworth, added: 'I recall Savile owning a Winnebago, which he used for the occasional stopovers in London.
'There were rumours, of course, about what he used it for but because he was a loner, no one ever seemed to actually see if anything untoward was happening.'
His revelations come as:
- Dame Janet's inquiry concluded today that the BBC must undergo ‘self-examination’ to ensure Savile’s ‘terrible’ reign of abuse is never repeated;
- It emerged low-ranking and middle managers knew about Savile's abuse but senior executives, who were absolved of any blame by the report, were not compelled to give evidence;
- The monster Jim’ll Fix It star raped a virgin who was under 16 at a hotel, raped a 15-year-old girl on work experience after meeting her in the BBC canteen, and indecently touched a woman in his most recent attack in 2006 when aged 79 after filming of the last ever Top of the Pops episode;
- Victims branded the £10million inquiry an 'expensive whitewash' because Dame Janet Smith had no power to make senior BBC manager give evidence as part of her three-year review;
- A parallel inquiry into paedophile Stuart Hall revealed BBC bosses were aware – or should have been – that the It's a Knockout presenter was abusing girls;
- BBC Director General Tony Hall apologised to the victims of Savile and Hall, saying: 'I am deeply sorry for the hurt caused to each of you. We let you down and we know it';
- Veteran DJ Tony Blackburn, 73, accused the BBC of making him a 'scapegoat' after he was sacked on the eve of the release of the damning report into the Savile sex abuse cover-up.
Despite senior management claiming to have no idea about Jimmy Savile's paedophilia, rumours that he liked young girls were rife among some of the top stars at the BBC, it also emerged.
From Lord Michael Grade to Dame Esther Rantzen, Chinese whispers had travelled.
There were stories of him licking a young girl's hand, jokes about him 'screwing minors' and that he was a necrophiliac, but they were never investigated at the time.
Dame Janet's long-awaited review found there was a culture of 'reverence and fear' towards celebrities at the corporation and that 'an atmosphere of fear still exists today in the BBC'.
When a junior female employee at Television Centre complained to her supervisor that she had been sexually assaulted by Savile, she was told 'keep your mouth shut, he is a VIP', the report found.
The BBC failed you when it should have protected you. I am deeply sorry for the hurt caused to each of you. Today we sorry. We let you down and we know it
BBC Director General Tony Hall
Dame Janet said girls who dared to complain about being sexually assaulted were regarded as 'a nuisance' and their claims not properly dealt with.
A parallel inquiry also published today into jailed It’s A Knockout presenter Stuart Hall found BBC managers were aware – or should have been – that he was abusing girls.
Dame Janet’s three-year inquiry into Savile’s ability to sexually attack children in every BBC premises he ever worked in concludes he was considered ‘untouchable’ and ‘more valuable than the values’ of the BBC.
Dame Janet recommended: ‘This report makes sorry reading for the BBC…The BBC ought to undergo a period of self-examination,’ adding that members of ‘The Talent’, as Savile was, should be put in ‘no doubt as to the standards of behaviour expected of them.’
She said young people attending recordings of Top of The Pops had been in ‘moral danger’ and the BBC made ‘no attempt’ to ensure children were kept out of Savile’s clutches.
She concluded some of his colleagues were aware of his depravity but she believed senior managers were never told.
BBC Director General Tony Hall called it a 'very sobering day' for the corporation as he apologised to the victims of Savile and Hall.
Shocking: BBC bosses missed five opportunities to snare 'King Jimmy' Savile as he molested 72 victims as young as eight over five decades in every corridor he worked, a long-awaited report revealed today
Damning: Dame Janet's long-awaited review (pictured left) found there was a culture of 'reverence and fear' towards celebrities at the corporation. A parallel inquiry also published today into Stuart Hall (pictured yesterday) found BBC managers were aware – or should have been – that he was abusing girls
Failure to act: Dame Janet (pictured at a press conference this morning) said girls who dared to complain about being sexually assaulted were regarded as 'a nuisance' and their claims not properly dealt with
'Sorry': BBC Director General Tony Hall (pictured today with Rona Fairhead, chairman of the BBC Trust) apologised to the victims of Savile and Hall, saying: 'I am deeply sorry for the hurt caused to each of you'
He said: 'It should never have started. It should certainly have been stopped. There is nothing as compared with your pain.
'It was a dark chapter. The BBC failed you when it should have protected you. I am deeply sorry for the hurt caused to each of you. Today we sorry. We let you down and we know it.'
Lord Hall went on to say how Savile 'used his celebrity to promise access to excitement and fun, and then grotesquely exploited it', before referring to the entertainer being known as 'King Jimmy' because of his popularity at the BBC.
Dame Janet’s 372,000-word report interviewed 380 witnesses in relation to Savile’s conduct. She identified 72 BBC victims of Savile including eight rapes – two of them against males – going back to 1959 when he raped a 13 year old girl at Lime Grove Studios.
Twenty one of his female victims were aged 15 or younger, the youngest being eight.
Of his male victims, the youngest was an eight-year-old boy.
His most recent attack was in 2006 when he indecently touched a woman following filming of the last ever episode of Top of The Pops – when Savile was aged 79.
Dame Linda Dobbs, who conducted the Stuart Hall inquiry, said he had 21 victims at the BBC from 1967 to 1991, the youngest being aged 10.
In Hall’s case, the inquiries concluded some BBC managers were aware what he was up to.
In 1973 Douglas Muggeridge (left), controller of Radio 1 and 2, 'heard rumours of Savile's sexual impropriety'. He held meeting between Savile, Derek Chinnery (right), then head of programmes for Radio 1, and producer Doreen Davies, where Savile denied there was any truth to the rumours and the BBC bosses believed him
One BBC manager who ‘knew’ about Stuart Hall was named in the report as Ray Colley, Regional Television Manager, North West 1970 – 86.
A woman who complained to him about Hall told the inquiry of ‘daily sexual harrasment’, saying: ‘If you were female, at the slightest opportunity he put his arms around you and forced his body against yours…he could stroke your knee or tweak your stocking top, put his hand on your breast or rub your back.’
But she said the reaction of Mr Colley, ‘who was present during some of the incidents’, was: ‘Oh, come on, you can take a joke’, she said, ‘or to say words to the effect of, “you can handle that, couldn’t you, you’re a big tough girl”.’
Mr Colley, the report said, gave Hall a dressing down about his conduct after the former arrived at BBC Manchester in 1970, suggesting rumours about Hall's sexual activity were circulating even then. However he failed to take any subsequent 'positive steps' to check if Hall was behaving.
Meanwhile, Dame Janet found that no senior manager at the BBC 'ever found out about any specific complaint relating to Savile's inappropriate sexual conduct in connection with his work for the BBC'.
However, she highlighted several people who, if they had escalated their concerns, could have helped stop Savile sooner.
And she underlined an occasion when the BBC's investigation fell short.
Dame Janet also said she could not rule out the possibility that 'a predatory child abuser could be lurking in the BBC even today'.
She stated that child sex abusers like Hall and Savile are often 'highly intelligent, articulate and charismatic but manipulative people'.
She said: 'Stuart Hall is an example. Savile, too, was intelligent, charismatic and extremely manipulative, even if not always very articulate. Any organisation could be duped by such an individual.'
Dame Janet added: 'The power of celebrity and the trust we accord it, which show no real sign of diminishing in our society, make detection of a celebrity abuser even more difficult.
'Until a complaint is made, such people are likely to enjoy the confidence and approval of all of those around them.'
In the 1970s, Canon Colin Semper, who was then a reverend, worked with Savile on God'll Fix It and was subsequently promoted to head of religious programmes.
Dame Janet said: 'I accept that Canon Semper did not "know" that Savile had sex with under-age girls in the sense of ever having seen it happen, but he clearly did 'think' that Savile had casual sex with a lot of girls, some of whom might have been under age.
'Canon Semper did not make any report to his managers. I have concluded that he ought to have discussed his concerns with a manager.'
She also found that there was one occasion when 'a senior manager heard disturbing rumours about Savile'.
In 1973 Douglas Muggeridge, the controller of Radio 1 and 2 who has since died, 'heard rumours of Savile's sexual impropriety', she stated.
He set up to lines of inquiry - a meeting was held between Savile, Derek Chinnery, then head of programmes for Radio 1, and Doreen Davies, an executive producer.
The report stated: 'Savile was asked whether there was any truth in the rumours. He said there was not and it appears that Mr Chinnery and Ms Davies believed him.'
Dame Janet found that no senior manager at the BBC 'ever found out about any specific complaint relating to Savile's inappropriate sexual conduct in connection with his work for the BBC'
Savile acts as doorman at London's Victoria Palace Theatre for the arrival of the Princess of Wales in 1984
Rubbing shoulders with royalty: Savile also met Prince Charles on a number of occasions during his career
The second line of inquiry saw BBC Radio publicity officer Rodney Collins look into similar rumours, but he found no hard evidence.
Dame Janet stated: 'It appears to me that the main concern which prompted his (Mr Muggeridge's) inquiries was the risk of damage to the BBC's reputation, rather than the welfare of any girls who might have been sexually involved with Savile.
'It seems likely that, as a result of his inquiries, he believed the rumours to be untrue. Even so, I am surprised that he should have closed the book quite as completely as he appears to have done.'
She said that, in 1969 and 1971, the BBC received 'a number of wake-up calls' about the risks teenage girls were exposed to on Top Of The Pops. These included newspaper reports about the picking-up of teenage girls at the show by staff members while it was facing another probe into claims that producers were playing records for money.
The report found: 'The BBC's investigations into the possibility that young girls attending Top Of The Pops were at risk of moral danger did not evince any real concern for the welfare of the young audience.
'The impression I have is that the BBC regarded these girls as something of a nuisance.'
This report makes sorry reading for the BBC…The BBC ought to undergo a period of self-examination
Dame Janet Smith
BBC Trust chairman Rona Fairhead today said that the BBC 'failed' victims of Savile and Hall, adding: 'It turned a blind eye, where it should have shone a light. And it did not protect those who put their trust in it.'
Ms Fairhead said the survivors are owed an 'enormous debt of gratitude' for the courage they have shown.
She added: 'Their bravery has created a vastly deeper understanding of the issues and I am confident that, from here forward, nothing will be the same.
'We believe that these reports are clear, thorough and authoritative, and I would like to express my sincere thanks to Dame Janet Smith, Dame Linda Dobbs and the review team. We accept the conclusions and recommendations of their reports in their entirety.'
Ms Fairhead said the public’s trust in the BBC needs to be restored.
'We need to demonstrate, through our actions, that the BBC’s values are for everyone and non-negotiable,' she said.
'For, as Dame Janet makes clear, these events happened in the past but they raise serious issues that remain relevant and need to be addressed today.
'We fully support Dame Janet’s recommendation that the BBC Executive immediately reviews its policies and procedures on child protection, complaints, whistleblowing, and investigations - and that all of those should also be independently audited and published.
'It is important that this work also takes account of the variety of working relationships people have with the BBC, from freelancers and occasional contractors through to full-time members of staff.'
Rumours that Savile liked young girls, was a necrophiliac, and used his campervan for sex were rife among staff and stars at the BBC
By Anthony Joseph for MailOnline
The report states that Dame Esther Rantzen heard that Savile was sexually interested in young girls
Despite senior management claiming to have no idea about Jimmy Savile's paedophilia, rumours that he liked young girls were rife among some of the top stars at the BBC.
From Lord Michael Grade to Dame Esther Rantzen, Chinese whispers had travelled.
There were stories of him licking a young girl's hand, jokes about him 'screwing minors' and that he was a necrophiliac, but they were never investigated at the time.
Dame Janet Smith's report, which was published today, reveals some of the shocking rumours which had been doing the rounds at the time.
The report states that Dame Esther heard that Savile was sexually interested in young girls.
She first heard a rumour about him in the early 1970s from a researcher who had come into the BBC from a job in Fleet Street. She heard that the people making a programme about Savile in the ITV series This is Your Life had wished to include the parents of a young girl with heart problems for whom Savile had provided financial help.
The parents refused to allow that and she said that 'the implication was that there was another side to it which was a darker side'.
But, she said, this rumour was one of many which 'swirled around' at that time in respect of all sorts of famous people.
Dame Esther said that she was told by a sound editor of Savile's Travels that Savile had recorded himself having sex with nurses at Stoke Mandeville; there was no suggestion that the nurses were unwilling.
Michael Grade, controller of BBC1 from 1984 to 1986, admitted there was a 'groupie culture' around certain BBC stars
Her personal experience of him was that he was repulsive in the way he kissed or, rather, licked her hand and up her arm when they met.
On the ITV Exposure programme broadcast in October 2012, Dame Esther said 'We all blocked our ears to the gossip… I feel that we, in television – in his world, in some way colluded with him as a child abuser, because I now believe that's what he was'.
Lord Grade, who was Controller of BBC One in the mid-1980s, told Channel 4 News that he had 'fleetingly' heard rumours about Savile but never heard anything that he thought required investigation.
In 2012, when asked by Channel 4 News as to why he never acted on it, he said: 'People would cast aspersions in a general conversation - no-one said 'I know someone who has been attacked by an artist'.
Sir Terry Wogan is reported to have described a conversation about Savile with well-known columnist Jean Rook, in which she asked: When are you going to expose him?' And he replied: 'That's your job'
'I never heard anything that gave me cause to think we should investigate or do anything about it. But the entertainment industry is awash on a sea of rumours.
'I wouldn't like anyone to get the idea that in the seventies the people in authority in broadcasting were in any way permissive, or turned a blind eye.'
Sir Terry Wogan is reported to have described a conversation about Savile with well-known columnist Jean Rook, in which she asked: When are you going to expose him?' And he replied: 'That's your job'.
Sir Terry, who died of cancer aged 77 last month, is reported to have commented to the press: 'And nobody ever did (expose him), even though everybody had heard these rumours.'
The review wished to speak to Sir Terry but unfortunately he said he was too busy working on Children in Need.
The review then asked him if he could confirm the accuracy of the press report, to which he replied confirming Ms Rook had made the reported remark but his recollection was that he had not replied directly but had only thought to himself 'Surely that's your job'.
He added that he knew nothing about Savile apart from a vague rumour, which, he said, tended to be about Savile's sharp commercial practices and his shameless use of charity work for his own greater glory, rather than his sexual behaviour.
Andy Kershaw, who became a Radio 1 DJ, first heard rumours and stories about Savile in the early 1980s.
He heard from many sources that, in the 1950s and 1960s, Savile had a reputation as a gangland enforcer and would personally use physical violence against anyone who upset those who ran nightclubs and dance halls in Leeds.
When Mr Kershaw joined the BBC he was advised by John Walters, who had in the past produced programmes with Savile, to steer clear of Savile because he was a 'bad lot' and 'nasty piece of work'. Mr Kershaw found that was so.
He heard stories relating to Savile's interest in underage girls; for example it was said he had sex with young teenage girls in his campervan.
Mr Kershaw added these rumours were rife throughout the entertainment industry and were not limited to the BBC.
Tony Brandon (far left) with (from left to right) Jimmy Saville, Tony Blackburn and Terry Wogan receiving their top DJ awards from the Reveille Newspaper
Andy Kershaw, who became a Radio 1 DJ, first heard rumours and stories about Savile in the early 1980s.
He heard from many sources that, in the 1950s and 1960s, Savile had a reputation as a gangland enforcer and would personally use physical violence against anyone who upset those who ran nightclubs and dance halls in Leeds.
When Mr Kershaw joined the BBC he was advised by John Walters, who had in the past produced programmes with Savile, to steer clear of Savile because he was a 'bad lot' and 'nasty piece of work'. Mr Kershaw found that was so.
He heard stories relating to Savile's interest in underage girls; for example it was said he had sex with young teenage girls in his campervan. Mr Kershaw added these rumours were rife throughout the entertainment industry and were not limited to the BBC.
Mark Lawson told the review of a 'joke' that dated from two decades ago: 'What do Margaret Thatcher and Jimmy Savile have in common? They both screwed the miners/minors.'
Mark Lawson, the journalist, broadcaster and author, heard rumours about Savile before he joined the BBC and afterwards.
Whilst at the BBC, he heard that Savile was a groper and a paedophile.
He told the review of a 'joke' that dated from two decades ago: 'What do Margaret Thatcher and Jimmy Savile have in common? They both screwed the miners/minors.'
Stuart Hall abused 21 victims at the BBC - the youngest of whom was just ten years old - and senior managers KNEW... but told one victim 'you can take a joke'
By Anthony Joseph for MailOnline
Disgraced presenter Stuart Hall abused 21 victims at the BBC and the youngest was just 10 years old.
Staff at BBC Manchester knew the former It's A Knockout host was taking women into his dressing room for sex, although not that some of them were under age, a report by former High Court judge Dame Linda Dobbs found.
The report said he had 21 female victims at the BBC, with the youngest aged 10, between 1967 and 1991, but no complaints were passed on to senior management.
Fall from grace: The ex-BBC presenter Stuart Hall has spoken out in the first interview since his release from jail in December, after he was charged with abusing 13 girls - one of whom was just nine years old
Free man: The 86-year-old even went so far as to describe the people who spoke out against him as 'vindictive' and 'malicious'. He was pictured yesterday enjoying a stroll in Oldham, Greater Manchester
However, it emerged that senior managers knew one victim who was told 'you can take a joke'.
Hall, now 86, was released in December after serving half of a five-year jail term for historical indecent assaults against girls aged between nine and 17.
One BBC manager who 'knew' about Stuart Hall was named in the report as Ray Colley, Regional Television Manager, North West 1970 – 86.
A woman who complained to him about Hall told the inquiry of 'daily sexual harrasment', saying: 'If you were female, at the slightest opportunity he put his arms around you and forced his body against yours…he could stroke your knee or tweak your stocking top, put his hand on your breast or rub your back.'
But she said the reaction of Mr Colley, 'who was present during some of the incidents', was: 'Oh, come on, you can take a joke', she said, 'or to say words to the effect of, 'you can handle that, couldn't you, you're a big tough girl'.'
Mr Colley, the report said, gave Hall a dressing down about his conduct after the former arrived at BBC Manchester in 1970, suggesting rumours about Hall's sexual activity were circulating even then. However he failed to take any subsequent 'positive steps' to check if Hall was behaving.
Hall's wife Hazel (pictured with her husband) has now sold the £1.2million four-bedroom mansion where the couple used to live
Summarising Dame Linda's report, Dame Janet Smith said: 'There were concerns that management would not deal with it because of Hall's importance to the success of his shows and his celebrity status; he therefore became 'untouchable'.'
The report said people who were interviewed gave various reasons for a failure to report him, including it being nothing to do with them, fears they were too junior to interfere or might lose their job, or that it was up to management to take action.
The reports said Hall's actions had to be seen in the context of the behaviour standards of the time, but added: 'It is difficult not to conclude that, in view of the unusual opportunities for the abuse of young girls that some of the BBC's work generated, it should have put in place measures designed to prevent such abuse.
'Whether such measures would have prevented some or all of the especially inappropriate conduct committed by Hall in connection with his work for the BBC is difficult to say.
'It is likely at the very least that they would have prevented those incidents with which the Hall investigation is primarily concerned, namely those which took place on the BBC's premises in Manchester.'
The report said young female visitors to BBC Manchester were jokingly referred to as 'Hall's nieces' who had come for 'elocution lessons'.
It also referred to Hall's 'laddish sexuality, characterised by risque banter and often unwanted tactility'.
The official inquiry also concluded that the BBC must undergo 'self-examination' to ensure Jimmy Savile's 'terrible' reign of abuse. Savile was found to have molested 72 victims as young as eight.
Dame Smith controversially said the corporation's failure to stop the monster Jim'll Fix It star was not the fault of senior managers.
Her long-awaited review found there was a culture of 'reverence and fear' towards celebrities at the corporation and that 'an atmosphere of fear still exists today in the BBC'.
Today, BBC director-general Lord Hall apologised to the victims of Savile and Hall.
Very difficult': Stuart Hall, pictured left in December near his bail hostel, told inmates before his release that he had no intention of handing back his OBE to the Queen, right, despite his conviction for sex attacks
He said: 'The BBC failed you when it should have protected you. I'm deeply sorry for the hurt caused to each and every one of you.'
He added that one account of a Savile victim in particular had stuck in his mind.
'One of the survivors was told 'Keep your mouth shut, he's a VIP',' he said.
'This hit me because it made it so very clear that we, the BBC, did that.
'Savile committed his crimes in many places but it was the BBC that made him famous.
'What this terrible episode tells us is that fame is power, a very strong form of power.
If you were female, at the slightest opportunity he put his arms around you and forced his body against yours…he could stroke your knee or tweak your stocking top, put his hand on your breast or rub your back
A woman who complained about Hall
'And like all power it must be held to account, it must be challenged and it must be scrutinised, and it wasn't.'
In June 2013, Hall was jailed for 15 months after he admitted indecently assaulting 13 girls, before the sentence was doubled by the Court of the Appeal, which ruled it was 'inadequate'.
Last May he received an additional 30 months in jail - to run consecutively - for two indecent assaults on another girl.
Yesterday, Stuart Hall has insisted that he is the victim in his first interview since he was released from jail for abusing 13 girls - one of whom was just nine years old.
The disgraced ex-BBC presenter described how going 'from being a national treasure to the bottom of the pond has been very difficult'.
The 86-year-old even went so far as to describe the people who spoke out against him as 'vindictive' and 'malicious'.
Hall served just half of his five-year jail term.
And he was photographed enjoying his freedom yesterday in Oldham, Greater Manchester, near to the bail hostel were he is currently staying.
'I am bearing up. I am living in a vacuum. It's like being in a void,' the It's A Knockout presenter told The Sun in his first interview since his release from prison last December.
'I don't look more than a day ahead. I live one day at a time.'
His comments came on the eve of the release of a report into sex crimes at the BBC.
Sacked Tony Blackburn claims he has been made a 'scapegoat' by the BBC after being axed on the eve of damning Jimmy Savile sex abuse report
By Sam Tonkin and Darren Boyle for MailOnline
Tony Blackburn, pictured today, said he has been 'axed' by the BBC after almost 50 years following allegations that he had seduced a 15-year-old girl in 1971, a claim that he has strongly denied
Veteran DJ Tony Blackburn last night accused the BBC of making him a 'scapegoat' after he was sacked on the eve of the release of a damning report into the Jimmy Savile sex abuse cover-up.
Blackburn, 73, claimed the corporation's Director General Tony Hall decided personally to 'terminate' his contract over the contents of the £10million review by Dame Janet Smith.
The Radio 2 star, fired after five decades on the air, is now planning to sue the BBC after saying 'all relationships' he had with the corporation had been 'terminated with immediate effect'.
Dame Janet today condemned the BBC for its deferential culture and attitude towards 'untouchable' stars - but cleared management of any wrongdoing despite revealing they were warned of Savile's abuse.
Blackburn claims he was sacked because his evidence to Dame Janet’s review concerning an investigation in 1971 contradicted the BBC’s own version of events.
He has pledged to take legal action against the corporation for destroying his reputation, claiming the BBC was making him a 'scapegoat' for the 'cover-up' of abuse.
The investigation in 1971 followed an allegation of assault made by the mother of a 15-year-old girl, Claire McAlpine, who alleged she was seduced by the DJ as well as several other celebrities.
Ms McAlpine took her own life in March 1971 after appearing on Top of the Pops.
According to the Smith review, which was published today, Blackburn is referred to as 'A7' and is accused of seducing the young girl, an allegation the DJ strongly denies.
Blackburn, who was the first DJ to broadcast on Radio 1 in 1967, says he was never interviewed over the incident but claims the BBC says he was interviewed twice.
In a statement released last night, he said the decision to sack him had been taken by BBC Director General Tony Hall.
Tony Blackburn, pictured in 1971, has denied allegations he seduced a 15-year-old girl that same year
Claire McAlpine, pictured left, with Jimmy Savile on Top of the Pops, had written a diary before taking her life
He said: 'I am told that the decision was taken personally by the director-general. Quite naturally, I am devastated.
'The reasons for the BBC taking this decision are that my evidence to Dame Janet Smith shows, I believe, that a cover-up took place - one that I had no knowledge of. This goes against what the BBC believe.
'In 1971, allegations were made by the mother of a 15-year-old girl whose diary apparently contained suggestions that she had been seduced by celebrities including me.
'I am told that the mother told the BBC, a few weeks after her initial complaint, that her daughter had withdrawn the allegation against me.
'I have never seen the diary and neither has anyone at the BBC or the Dame Janet review. That same year this seemingly troubled teenager tragically took her own life.'
According to Blackburn's statement, he claims the Dame Janet report makes no suggestion that he is guilty of any crime or misconduct with the girl.
'Nor did a coroner’s inquest or a subsequent police inquiry into her death,' he added.
'The BBC have made clear that they are not terminating my relationship with them because of any misconduct. They are destroying my career and reputation because my version of events does not tally with theirs.
'I was not guilty of any inappropriate conduct; my lawyers will take immediate action against anyone suggesting that I was.
'According to BBC records seen by Dame Janet, I was allegedly interviewed about the girl’s diary before her death in 1971 by a very senior figure at the BBC, Bill Cotton Jr.
'I was also, supposedly, interviewed by Brian Neill QC as part of his report into the Payola scandal at the BBC.
'I have repeatedly told Dame Janet and the BBC I was never interviewed by either man in this context and the BBC records are either very vague or have, conveniently, disappeared.
'Regardless of these facts, the BBC is axing me after five decades of broadcasting.
'Sadly, what is happening to me now seems to be entirely in keeping with the past BBC culture of whitewash and cover-up.
'In 1967, I proudly opened Radio 1 for the BBC. Over the past 49 years I have enjoyed my time working for them immensely and I am grateful to my millions of listeners for their continued support over the decades.
'Sadly, despite being aware of my evidence for many months, if not years, the BBC have decided to make me a scapegoat and have taken away any future opportunity I have to broadcast for them.
'Naturally, I am now left with no choice but to take legal action against the BBC. They have taken away a career I love and I will not allow them to destroy my reputation.'
The Dame Janet report accused the BBC of covering up allegations concerning Blackburn from 1971.
The former Court of Appeal judge's team interviewed Blackburn in 2013 where he denied ever being questioned about the allegation.
However, Dame Janet said: 'For my part, I am satisfied that an investigation did take place, which comprised an interview with A7 at which he denied the allegations.'
Sir Brian Neill, QC who conducted the 1971 review said: 'Mr A7 told me the girl had come to see him on several occasions and had invented stories for the purpose of getting access to him.
'He said she seemed to him in a sort of fantasy world but that she had not made any sexual advances of any kind.'
The allegation came after Claire McAlpine's mother Vera, found her daughter's diary in February 1971 where the 15-year-old had outlined details of alleged abuse.
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