Dan Walker was a no-show at the London Tribunals Centre after being accused of racial and sexist discrimination by his former Channel 5 News co-host, Claudia-Liza Vanderpuije.
Still, he’s remaining in high spirits, continuing with his weekday breakfast slot on Classic FM and taking to Instagram with a selfie and an optimistic message earlier today.
Wishing his followers a ‘good morning’, he wrote: ‘Exciting day today… @classicfm this morning and then off to the @royalalberthall to present Classic FM Live alongside the brilliant @myleeneklass.
‘Can’t wait but that does mean no @c5news for me tonight. You can still join the guys at 5 on 5 and I will be back on the telly tomorrow.’
‘Have a cracking Monday’, Walker, 49, signed off.
Meanwhile, Vanderpuije, 47, arrived at the Tribunals Centre with her lawyer, Jonathan Coade, just before 11am, but, as per The Mirror, Walker chose to stay at home for the first day of proceedings.
Metro understands, however, that witnesses are only expected to attend in person when called.
It was confirmed last week that the broadcaster would appear at an employment tribunal after Vanderpuije filed claims of unfair dismissal, discrimination, and harassment on grounds of race and sex and breach of contract. She co-hosted with Walker for a year, from 2022 to 2023.
According to her lawyers, ITN, which makes Channel 5 News, and Channel 5’s owner, Paramount, are also named as respondents to Vanderpuije’s claim.
The case is scheduled to last up to five weeks.
When the news first broke, an ITN spokesperson denied the claims ‘in full’. Walker also denies any wrongdoing and is said to have compiled over 50 character witness statements from famous footballers, Olympians, BBC journalists, and presenters in his favour.
A source told the Mail on Sunday: ‘Dan absolutely denies any sexism, misogyny, racism, or bullying. It has been hanging over him for some years now.
‘He will be at London Central tribunal later this month. Nobody wants this, but he will be there to tell the judge the truth.
‘There will be tonnes of witness statements which will talk to Dan’s character. He has been absolutely stunned with the amount of people willing to support him. He has been stunned and actually very upset to be accused of such things.’
In further quotes, a friend of Walker’s told The Sun that he plans to continue working as normal while the hearing takes its course.
Meanwhile, Vanderpuije’s legal team has said she has been ‘the victim of vile social media abuse’ since reports of the tribunal emerged.
While Walker has made no public comment on the legal process, the former BBC Breakfast host and Strictly Come Dancing contestant did reflect on the internal investigation last year in an interview with The Telegraph.
Allegations against the dad-of-three were not upheld, and no misconduct was found in the HR-led probe.
After he was ‘completely exonerated’, an investigator said of the claims from his co-worker, who was unnamed in the media at the time: ‘There is a lack of evidence to support allegations.’
Speaking in September after being hit by the complaint last March, Walker shared: ‘I haven’t really talked about it, but that was fully investigated, and everything was completely incorrect, and I was entirely vindicated by an independent inquiry.
‘So yeah, that’s not nice, but you hold on to what you know the truth is and ultimately the truth is the important thing.’
He added that hanging on for the findings of the inquiry ‘wasn’t easy’.
On what kept him going, he said: ‘I know I’m not that person, so… And yeah, there’s days you worry about that, but also you know that that’s a picture you don’t recognise, and nobody you’ve ever worked with recognises.’
At the time, an industry source also told The Sun that the investigation had ‘sent shockwaves round Channel 5 and ITN’, with Walker ‘totally stunned to be dragged into it’.
Reps for Dan Walker have been contacted for comment.
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