Jeremy Paxman told a BBC inquiry into Newsnight's axed Jimmy Savile investigation that it was "common gossip" the DJ liked "young" people.
The presenter said it was assumed they were girls, but that he did not know "whether it was girls or boys".
The presenter's testimony is among thousands of pages of transcripts from an inquiry into why Newsnight dropped its probe into abuse by Savile.
The Pollard report, in December, called Newsnight's decision "flawed".
During his interview for the Pollard Review, Mr Paxman said: "It was, I would say, common gossip that Jimmy Savile liked, you know, young - it was always assumed to be girls.
"I don't know whether it was girls or boys. But I had no evidence of it, and I never saw anything that made me take it more seriously than it was common gossip."
But, describing why he felt the shelving of the Newsnight investigation had been wrong, he said: "These people prey upon children in vulnerable situations and when the children complain they are not believed.
"I thought that we had behaved just like many other authorities and I didn't like it."
The BBC has published online about 3,000 pages of emails, interviews and submissions from BBC executives and journalists - although about 3% of details have been removed.
The transcripts include details of comments left on a BBC online tribute page to Savile that were removed by moderators.
A transcript of the interview between Mr Pollard and ex-BBC director general George Entwistle includes reference to comments saying: "One of my best friends in 1972 was molested by this creep Savile. He was never the same again. Killed himself in 1985. How's About That Then?"
Helen Boaden, then-director of BBC News, says in the documents that she "had never heard any dark rumours about Jimmy Savile".
'Lessons learned'Acting director general Tim Davie said that by releasing the transcripts, the BBC was being "open and transparent in its handling of this unhappy chapter in our history".
But he said details had been redacted for reasons of defamation, data privacy, protection of confidential sources, anonymity for victims of sexual assault, potential prejudice to or interference with police investigations or ongoing criminal proceedings, legal professional privilege and confidentiality.
He added: "It has not been an entirely comfortable process for us to go through but it is right that we did it this way.
Will the Pollard evidence be remembered more for what's in it or what's been cut out?
Ahead of publication, newspapers reported that Jeremy Paxman and Lord McAlpine were both upset that the full evidence was not to be revealed. But another paper said the BBC would be "engulfed" in a mountain of "deeply unedifying" material.
The BBC is in a no-win position. If some of the evidence does prove explosive, it will grab the headlines. If it doesn't, the "censorship" will become the story.
So why is any of it being withheld? Lord Patten always said some material would be redacted for legal reasons. The BBC says these include protecting the confidentiality of sources or victims of Jimmy Savile, and avoiding the risk of libel actions.
It denies claims that it simply wants to avoid further embarrassing its managers, but that suspicion remains.
"It is important that the BBC now moves forward with the lessons learned and continues to regain the public's trust."
BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten said: "These documents paint a very unhappy picture, but the BBC needs to be open - more open than others would be - in confronting the facts that lie behind Nick Pollard's report.
"A limited amount of text has been blacked out for legal reasons, but no-one could say that the effect has been to sanitise this material, which again puts a spotlight on some of our failings. We need to acknowledge these shortcomings and learn from them."
The review was set up by the BBC to decide if there were management failings over the six-week Savile investigation, which was dropped by the BBC's flagship current affairs programme in December 2011.
The report, headed by former head of Sky News Nick Pollard and published in December, concluded the decision to shelve the investigation was "seriously flawed" but "done in good faith".
It dismissed claims it was dropped to protect tribute shows to the DJ, who died aged 84 in October 2011, and who police believe abused hundreds of children and young people over five decades.
However, it was highly critical of BBC bosses, describing "chaos and confusion" and "leadership in short supply" - though no evidence of a cover-up.
'Secret service'The BBC accepted the findings in full and the corporation announced a series of staff changes after it was published.
Conservative peer and former party treasurer Lord McAlpine has accused the BBC of behaving like the "secret service" by using redactions of the documents to censor criticism of senior executives.
The peer was falsely accused of child abuse after a BBC Newsnight investigation. He was not named on the programme but was wrongly identified on social media outlets and by some blogs that incorrectly speculated about the person's identity.
In a report on that broadcast, BBC Scotland director Ken MacQuarrie found Newsnight staff had failed to complete "basic journalistic checks".
Another review led by Dame Janet Smith, looking at the culture and practices of the BBC during the years in which Savile worked there, is expected next year.
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