Radio presenter Dave Lee Travis tells reporters his arrest by police investigating abuse by Jimmy Savile and others is “nothing to do with kids” and is “about me and two grown women”.
The 67-year-old, who has been taken off air by Magic AM, has denied any wrongdoing after his arrest by detectives investigating the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal.
Speaking outside his home near Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, he stressed that allegations against him had “nothing to do with kids”. He said he did not want his name associated with “bloody evil” child abuse.
“This is nothing to do with kids, all right? That’s the first thing. Because that to me is the most important thing in the world and I do not wish to have my name sullied around something that bloody evil, to be honest.
I am and always have been completely abhorred by anything to do with children and anything to do with child molestation and anything like that. Dave Lee Travis
“The second thing I want is to say, yes, there’s a complete denial there, but there’s nothing else I can tell you because otherwise I might be stepping on the police’s feet and I don’t want to do that because it might affect their investigations.”
He added: “If you’d like to actually put in your papers that Dave Lee Travis categorically denies that there was anything… oh, that’s the problem you see, as soon as you deny something, oh, there must be something to deny.
“Yes, there’s an ongoing police investigation about me and two grown women, all right? And this has to be completely clear with all of you.
“Any talk about children is, it’s just incensing, all right? I am and always have been completely abhorred by anything to do with children and anything to do with child molestation and anything like that.
Read more: Dave Lee Travis taken off air after Savile-linked arrest
“I don’t really want to be in a headline where people look and see Savile’s name and see my name and think ‘Oh God, is he at it as well?’ Not true, all right? You have a categorical denial about children. That is absolutely set in concrete, I promise you.”
“Let’s get down to brass tacks here – the first thing is I’ve been talking to the police about sexual… I can’t even remember what the word is now – in the old days it was called ‘putting your arm around somebody and giving them a cuddle’ but nowadays God knows.
“So the point I want to make here is that none of the things I’ve been talking to the police about, or have talked to them about, is to do with children.”
Earlier bosses at Bauer Media, owners of Magic AM which broadcasts in the north of England, announced they had suspended Mr Travis’s radio show “with immediate effect”.
“Following the arrest and release on police bail of Dave Lee Travis, Bauer Media has decided to take him off air with immediate effect from his Magic AM weekend shows,” a company statement said.
“We understand that the allegations about which he was questioned by police pre-date his time as a freelance contributor to Magic AM.”
Below: Dave Lee Travis is driven home on Thursday night after being bailed by police.