Esther Rantzen has spoken out about allegations of child abuse against Jimmy Savile.
Rantzen is convinced many personalities in British entertainment heard gossip suggesting Jimmy Savile abused children, but they chose to ignore the rumours.
Saville was one of the most popular presenters on the BBC, but now 10 women have claimed they were assaulted by him when they were girls, and four will appear in an explosive documentary about the star, who died last year.
Esther Rantzen has said that she now believes Savile was a child abuser
Rantzen, who founded the charity Childline, told The Mail on Sunday: "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.
"We all blocked our ears. There was gossip, there were rumours."
Rantzen said no action was taken because Saville, who raised millions of pounds for charity, was such a huge star in British TV.
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She added: "It's very distressing. We made him into the Jimmy Saville who was untouchable, who nobody could criticise. He was a sort of god-like figure.
"Everybody knew of the good that Jimmy did and what he did for children. And these children were powerless."
Rantzen said the testimony given by the women offers concrete evidence the allegations against Saville were true: "What these women say is so matter of fact, they corroborate each other. The style of the abuse and the attack on them was consistent one with each other.
"I'm afraid the jury isn't out any more and what upsets me so much is that not one of these children could ask for help. The abuse of power was as great as the sexual abuse."
Exposure: The Other Side Of Jimmy Savile will air on ITV on Wednesday.