John Leslie is a Scottish former television and radio presenter. Debuting on the Music Box channel in 1987, he later presented BBC One's Blue Peter, and ITV's This Morning and the gameshow Wheel of Fortune. He was also the studio host for the first series of the UK version of Survivor.
Leslie is also known for his affinity for football. He played in goal for the Scottish team in the Celebrity World Cup Soccer Six tournament, which took place on 14 May 2006 at St Andrew's, the home of Birmingham City. He is a supporter of Hibernian.
Leslie succeeded Bradley Walsh as the main presenter of the British version of Wheel of Fortune. He was succeeded in 2001 by Paul Hendy. That year, he turned up on Lily Savage's Blankety Blank.
''This Morning''
From series 11 in 1999 Leslie, alongside Fern Britton, was a regular presenter of the Friday edition. When Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan departed the show in 2001, they were replaced by Coleen Nolan and Twiggy, with Britton and Leslie remaining on Fridays. However, Nolan and Twiggy proved less popular with viewers, so Britton and Leslie took on the full job of presenting the show, bringing the ratings back up to around one million. In 2002, after [|allegations of sexual offences] were made in the press against Leslie, he was dismissed from the programme and replaced by Phillip Schofield from Mondays to Thursdays and by Eamonn Holmes on Fridays.
Music and radio
In December 2003, Leslie appeared in the music video for the Christmas single "Proper Crimbo", released by Bo' Selecta! creator Leigh Francis, alongside Matthew Wright in a spoof of their presumed rivalry. In November 2012, John Leslie began to present Friday's Drivetime show on 98.8 Castle FM, hoping to revive his career as a radio DJ. In March 2013, Leslie was among the Castle FM presenters who walked out in a disagreement with their management, only to be locked out when they tried to return. By the end of the year, the radio station had become automated, with no presenters. On 28 March 2014, it was announced that Leslie would begin presenting his own Saturday radio show across the Scottish Bauer Radio AM network, debuting the following day.
Rape and assault allegations
In October 2002, Ulrika Jonsson had written in her autobiography, Honest, that "an acquaintance" had raped her when she was 19. Amid media speculation, television presenter Matthew Wright accidentally let slip on The Wright Stuff that Leslie was the alleged perpetrator. Jonsson has never said whether the correct person was named. Other women made accusations of indecent assault against Leslie, and he was arrested in December 2002 on one count of rape and two concerning indecent assault, being then released on bail after being interviewed by the police. He was charged in June 2003 with assaulting a woman twice between 25 and 28 May 1997. He was never charged for offences against Jonsson. The prosecution dropped the charges against Leslie at Southwark Crown Court on 31 July 2003 after new information from the alleged victim. On the court steps after the end of the hearing, Leslie said that he had "been to hell and back" and that he had "maintained innocence throughout". In July 2018, Leslie announced that he was going to make a complaint against Police Scotland after being cleared of sexual assault. In June 2019, Leslie was charged with sexually assaulting a then 30-year-old woman in Westminster during December 2008. The following August Leslie pleaded not guilty at Southwark Crown Court, he was released on bail and is due to stand trial in March 2020.
