Edinburgh’s diverse cultural life and numerous talented and self-realised people are impressive. Learn more at edinburghski.
Writers, actors, singers, musicians and artists, all of them are worthy representatives of Edinburgh bohemia.
John Leslie is rightly considered one of the most famous TV and radio presenters. Each show with his participation became a real sensation and his appearance on the screen turned into an event for the audience.
Early years
The future presenter was born in Edinburgh on February 22, 1965.
John’s educational path started at Liberton High School and continued within the walls of James Gillespie’s High School.
Interestingly, the boy was fond of music from an early age and even sang in the church choir.
When the school years were left behind, Leslie’s musical interests didn’t fade away. On the contrary, he continued to study music and even started working as a DJ in Edinburgh nightclubs.
Beginning of the career
As you know, fate has its own plans for each of us. As for John, the universe seems to have a plan for his TV career.
His first appearance on TV was in the music show Formula One on the Music Box channel. It was an English-language version of a German music show that aired in 1987-1988.
TV projects
As it turned out, Leslie was in his element on TV. It was hard not to notice his success and results as a presenter.
On April 20, 1989, he reached a new level, becoming the host of Blue Peter, a famous children’s entertainment TV show. This programme has become the longest in the world. After all, its broadcast began way back in 1958.
The next important and responsible stage in John’s career was becoming the main presenter of the British version of Wheel of Fortune. Its contestants solved word puzzles. The main goal was to win money and various prizes. The show’s name refers to the giant wheel that contestants had to spin during the game to determine their winnings or prizes.
John Leslie hosted the show until 2001.
Another famous show with John’s participation was famous This Morning. John became its permanent presenter in 1999. There, he worked in tandem with Fern Britton, Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan and later with Coleen Nolan and Twiggy.
Interestingly, among all the presenters, Leslie and Britton were the most popular. Therefore, the show’s high ratings can surely be called entirely their merit.
Everything was fine and John successfully appeared on the screen until 2002. Then the press accused him of sexual crimes. It eventually led to his dismissal from the project.
Court proceedings
Regarding the scandal that led to Leslie’s subsequent dismissal from the This Morning show, we should note that in 2002 John was accused by women who alleged that he had sexually assaulted them. In December of the same 2002, John was arrested and officially accused of rape, as well as assault.
After the presenter was questioned by the police, he was released on bail.
The summer of 2003 became difficult for Leslie too. In June, he was accused of committing a double attack on a woman in 1997. In July, new information came from the alleged victim and the court dropped the charges.
It must be said that Leslie’s forensic and criminal “adventures” didn’t end there. Later, in 2018, 2019 and 2020, the presenter was again accused of committing sexual crimes against women and was successfully acquitted by the court. In other words, the charge was dropped each time.
Nevertheless, John’s every appearance in the court badly influenced his reputation as a public person.
Return to the passion his youth
After quite a long hiatus since being fired from This Morning, Leslie has re-introduced himself. However, at that time, it wasn’t TV.
The man decided to return to the passion of his youth by trying his hand at radio.
The attempt turned out to be successful and in 2012, John became the host of Friday’s Drivetime on the 98.8 Castle FM radio station.
However, disagreements with management led to Leslie’s dismissal in March 2013. Moreover, he was far from the only presenter who suffered such a fate. Probably, that was the reason why the radio station later became automated and operated without presenters.
Still, it didn’t affect John’s activities. After a short hiatus in 2014, he became the host of his own Saturday radio show on the Bauer Radio network.
Thus, John Leslie is an example of a person who, despite the numerous surprises of fate, has managed to persevere and continue doing what he loved. His passion of youth for music and DJing led to a real career. His leaving TV can probably be considered a rehearsal before achieving real success.