John Simpson, the BBC’s World Affairs Editor, has revealed how he almost fell for a ‘honeytrap’ set by a glamorous Czech spy at a time when his marriage was in trouble.
The veteran broadcaster, 73, said he welcomed the amorous approach from a woman called Anna at a vulnerable time in his life.
In a candid broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday, Simpson said he was approached in 1983 after covering a so-called peace conference in the then communist Czechoslovakia. ‘A few months later a letter arrived, a love letter from a particularly attractive receptionist at the hotel where I’d stayed. I told myself I’d play along with it. OK, I know that was stupid but my marriage was just breaking up and I felt a bit vulnerable. Anyway the letters kept on coming and one of them contained photos of the girl, glamorous photos.’
Simpson’s admission comes at the same time as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn continues to dismiss reports that he spied for the Czech intelligence service the StB after being targeted by an agent.
John Simpson, the BBC’s World Affairs Editor, has revealed how he almost fell for a ‘honeytrap’ set by a glamorous Czech spy at a time when his marriage was in trouble. Pictured: Simpson with his wife Diane and their two children in 1973
The broadcaster’s female admirer suggested they meet in Hungary and told him the enticing photographs were self portraits.
But Simpson became suspicious when he noticed the outline of a photographer in one of the shots.
He said: ‘I was getting in a bit deep so I told the BBC who in turn told MI5. A man in a suit came round and explained it all.’
Simpson added: ‘I had never heard the expression honey trap before.’
The MI5 man told him that Anna’s letters had probably been dictated by an StB handler and explained the likely outcome of any romantic rendezvous. Simpson was told that he would be with her in a hotel room ‘and then her husband will burst in, there will be a fight and he’ll fall down and hit his head and there will be blood everywhere. The police will arrive and someone will say they’ll only let you go if you sign some statement… or maybe, at some point, they’ll tell you to broadcast something favourable about them’.
The veteran broadcaster, 73, said he welcomed the amorous approach from a woman called Anna at a vulnerable time in his life. Pictured: Simpson with his current wife Adele
Simpson never forgot Anna’s approach and, while covering the collapse of the communist regime in 1989, he tracked her down.
He said: ‘I went back to the hotel. She was still working there at the desk. She gave a little squeal and ran into the back office. Oh well I thought, people are free here now, even the spooks.’
Father-of-three Simpson’s 30-year marriage to Diane Jean Pettey ended in 1995 and he married Adele Kruger in 1996.