Kaye Adams has admitted she is “not perfect” and has done a lot of “soul searching” since she was suspended from her BBC radio show.
Adams, 62, has been removed from her Mornings With Kaye Adams programme on BBC Radio Scotland while an investigation is conducted into claims she “shouted and screamed” at junior staff.
The presenter admitted she has felt “miserable” and has had the “most wretched few weeks”.
“Charlie, my eldest daughter, came down for the weekend, and so we had a nice… I'm not going to say much but it's been the most wretched five weeks, it really has,” she said on her How To Be 60 podcast.
“You know, I've done a lot of soul searching. It's been miserable, it's been absolutely horrible.
“But I'm at a stage now that I think, 'Do you know what, I know I'm not the person that I was painted as. I'm not perfect, never said I was, but I'm not the person I was painted as.’”
Adams went on: “And I thought 'I cannot allow this to drag me down and rinse me of all joy, which it certainly has done. And I can't allow it to do that to my family.'
“I'm really close with the girls, and I've felt terrible because I haven't been as available to them as I normally would be because I'm too wrapped up in my own bloody issues.
“And so yeah Charlie came down for the weekend and we just walked and walked and walked and walked.”
Complaints about Adams were reportedly raised under the BBC’s Call It Out scheme to challenge bad behaviour in the workplace following the scandal surrounding former MasterChef presenters Gregg Wallace and John Torode.
Adams’ spokesperson said she still hasn’t been told why she was temporarily removed from the show.
He added: “Further, she has worked for BBC Radio Scotland for more than 15 years and in that time has never had any issue raised about her.”
The TV personality has held her phone-in show at BBC Radio Scotland since 2010.
Sources claimed she had a meeting with the BBC’s new head of audio, Victoria Easton-Riley, last month.
An insider said: “The meeting did not go well... She hasn't been back since and she's not been on air.”
They added: “There have been complaints about her behaviour, and they've removed her while they investigate it. It's being talked about all over Pacific Quay [BBC Scotland's headquarters].
“After the Gregg Wallace fiasco, they're now getting much tougher on complaints about the talent and are starting to take these things seriously.”
BBC bosses are quizzing staff about Adams’ conduct “over a number of years”, the Mail On Sunday claimed last week.
The “bullying” investigation was reportedly launched after an “shouting incident” during a debriefing session at the station, during which Adams allegedly “stormed out”.
Adams denied any incident happening and said shouting was “not her style”.
“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. It’s not my style,” she said.
“The atmosphere is strained at PQ [Pacific Quay – BBC Scotland’s headquarters],” a source said.
“The team working on the morning programme are keeping quiet about everything, just keeping their heads down and getting on with the job.
“There’s a lot of confusion about what the BBC are actually doing and why Kaye hasn’t been told about what is being investigated.”
Investigators reportedly want to gather more information before they present their findings to Adams, according to the outlet.
A BBC Scotland spokesperson said: “We would not comment on any individual case. If any complaints or concerns are raised, we have robust internal processes in place to manage these.”
