Blue Peter presenters' lives now - from sex tape and cocaine scandal to 'porn' role

Daily Record

01-05-2025

While Blue Peter has launched the careers of many TV presenters, some stars have struggled to shake off their association with the iconic children's show after leaving.
The wholesome reputation of Blue Peter - the longest-running children's TV programme globally - has occasionally been marred by the off-screen behaviour of its presenters.
From Richard Bacon's cocaine scandal in the 1990s to Scots entertainer John Leslie's leaked sex tape and sexual assault allegations; Konnie Huq's phone-in controversies and TV executives failing to shield their youngest host, Yvette Fielding, from convicted paedophile Rolf Harris, the show has sometimes made headlines for all the wrong reasons since it started in 1958.
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But what became of these hosts after they bid farewell to the show?
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Here, The Record delves into the varied fortunes of some of Blue Peter's most cherished presenters.
Richard Bacon
Arguably one of the most notorious former hosts, Richard has carved out a successful career as a US TV producer based in LA, where he generates new concepts for game shows. But, even though it is nearly three decades later, the now 47-year-oldis perhaps best remembered for his dismissal from Blue Peter following a cocaine incident at a London nightclub.
In October 1998, at just 22 years old, Bacon became the first presenter on the children's show to have his contract terminated mid-run after confessing to using the Class A drug when a Sunday tabloid exposed the story. Despite this setback, Bacon managed to salvage his television career, going on to host The Big Breakfast and Top of The Pops, as well as securing an afternoon slot on BBC Radio 5 Live.
In 2014, Bacon ventured to the US to anchor a daytime television programme and he has also opened up about his historical battles with addiction, particularly regarding alcohol. He admitted to The Guardian: "My wife would like me to do AA all the time, and I just don't, but I have said I will spend more time with our therapist examining my relationship to drink."
During a visit back home in 2018, Bacon became ill and took himself to A&E at Lewisham hospital, where it was found that he was critically sick with pneumonia. Doctors placed him in an induced coma.
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Reflecting on the traumatic episode, Richard shared what doctors had told him post-recovery: "You were lying on the hospital trolley, you were crashing. You turned blue. We thought you were going to go into cardiac arrest and die."
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Upon waking up nine days later from his brush with death, Bacon learned that healthcare professionals in the London hospital's ICU had performed a tracheotomy to save his life.
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Bacon is now living in LA with his spouse Rebecca McFarlane and their two kids Arthur, 14, and Ivy, 11.
He joked: "I could bring peace to the Middle East and still, when I die, the top line of the obituary will be 'fired from Blue Peter '."
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Before Bacon's appearance, Scots presenter John Leslie co-hosted Blue Peter alongside the departed Caron Keating and Anthea Turner between 1989 and 1994. Leslie went out with The Mask of Zorro star Catherine Zeta-Jones, but became more famous for dating nurse and model Abi Titmuss after a private tape of her having sex with another woman - filmed by Leslie - was leaked
But Leslie's successful career as a co-host of This Morning with Fern Britton came to an abrupt halt in 2002 when Swedish TV presenter Ulrika Johnson alleged in her autobiography that she had been raped by "an acquaintance" when she was 19 and Matthew Wright mentioned Leslie's name by mistake on live television.
Despite being cleared of all charges, he told the Scottish Mail: "I lost everything overnight. I'd gone from earning over £300,000 to not a single penny coming in. And I spent about £500,000 on legal costs."
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Forced to sell his £3.5m mansion and return to his hometown of Edinburgh, Leslie managed to get by on royalties and DJing gigs. Having battled his way back from being a "depressed and suicidal" recluse, the 60-year-old is currently a property developer and resides with his girlfriend Kate Moore.
But Leslie has continued to be plagued by historical assault allegations. A woman claimed he groped her breasts at a celebrity party in 2008, and again in 2017, he was accused of sliding his hand down the back of a woman's trousers while dancing.
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Leslie has consistently denied both allegations and was acquitted in both cases.
Yvette Fielding
Convicted paedophile Rolf Harris was a frequent guest on numerous BBC shows. But Yvette Fielding, who joined as a co-presenter alongside Mark Curry and Caron Keating at the age of 18 in 1987, disclosed that she was molested by the disgraced entertainer after being left alone with him in a TV studio.
Last year, she criticised the BBC for not fulfilling its duty of care towards her. Speaking to The Sun, she said: "It was bizarre to think Rolf Harris was squeezing and patting my bottom and I am standing there, thinking, 'I don't know what to do.' Other people in the industry must have known what he was like and (they) left me alone in the studio with him. That shouldn't have happened. I think a lot of them did know'."
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Now aged 56, Fielding is most recognised for hosting and co-creating the paranormal TV show Most Haunted with her cameraman and producer husband Karl Beattie.
Konnie Huq
Konnie Huq, who co- presented with Richard Bacon and held the record as the longest-serving female presenter on the show from 1997 to 2008, had to apologise live on air for a phone-in scandal that resulted in the BBC being fined an unprecedented £50,000 by Ofcom.
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The corporation confessed that the results of a Blue Peter competition to identify the celebrity owner of a pair of shoes were fabricated when the show allowed a child visiting the studio to pose as a caller due to technical issues preventing real calls from reaching the studio. Konnie was also implicated in the show's cat-naming scandal.
She later said: "I was horrified. I couldn't believe it was allowed to happen. It was partly because of the scam I made the decision to leave."
Married to the mastermind behind Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker, the 49 year old London-based mother of two has transitioned from her TV presenting and celebrity game show panelist days to penning books and scripts, carving out a niche as a successful children's author.
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Pet scandals
Blue Peter without its controversies, particularly when it came to their furry co-stars. The first major incident occurred in 1962 when it was later revealed that Petra, the show's first pet, was hastily replaced by a lookalike after the original dog tragically died of distemper just two days before her scheduled debut.
Biddy Baxter, the long-serving Blue Peter editor who stepped down in 1988, disclosed in her memoir, 'The Woman Who Made Blue Peter', "It was unthinkable to traumatise our youngest viewers, so we had to trawl London for the dead pup's lookalike."
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Another memorable moment involved a dispute over Shep, the programme's beloved border collie, following the departure of legendary presenter John Noakes after a 12-year stint during which he became synonymous with the show's golden era alongside Valerie Singleton and Peter Purves.
Shep, who had lived with Noakes since his first appearance on screen in 1971, became the centre of a heated argument when Noakes left. He said at the time: "I thought Shep was mine – they told me I could keep him, but they went back on their word."
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Now aged 91, Biddy Baxter clarified in her book that Noakes did indeed take Shep with him until 1982, when he and his wife Vicky embarked on a global sailing adventure, after which Shep was taken in by the show's pet carer Edith Menezes. Noakes passed away in 2017.
Peter Duncan
In 1980, the audacious Noakes was succeeded by another man of action, actor Peter Duncan, who had previously appeared in a risqué film titled The Lifetaker.
Despite the ensuing controversy, Duncan, who co- hosted alongside Simon Groom, Sarah Greene and Janet Ellis, wasn't dismissed. Reflecting on the incident, he said:"They called me a soft porn star and it was nonsense. Yes, there was a little soft-focus nudity, but it wasn't salacious."
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Duncan even made light of the situation in 2014 when he tweeted: "For your pleasure on my 60th trailer from my 1973 'porn' film that caused trauma and headlines."
In the early 2000s, Duncan and his wife Annie produced a series of family holiday documentaries featuring their four children. Now aged 71, the former chief scout remains active every Christmas, staging his Jack and the Beanstalk panto production.
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Stars lost too soon
When Duncan departed from the show for the first time in 1984, he was replaced by Michael Sundin, whose tenure was marred by controversy following rumours about his sexuality, leading to his dismissal. Tragically, Michael passed away at the age of 28 from an Aids-related illness in 1989, although it was reported as "liver cancer" at the time.
The show also mourned the loss of another presenter taken too soon, Gloria Hunniford's daughter Caron Keating, who succumbed to breast cancer in April 2004 after a seven-year battle. She was only 41 and left behind two young sons.
Peter Purves
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Blue Peter's longest-serving male presenter, Peter Purves, is still alive today at the age of 86. Working on Blue Peter between 1967 and 1978, Purves once took the headlines for a fleeting romantic encounter with fellow presenter Valerie Singleton during his marriage.
He later said: "It was only one night. We remained great friends."
Purves disclosed how his countless trips to sunny shores while on Blue Peter led to skin cancer. Speaking with The Mail on Sunday, he said: "I travelled to 27 countries with Blue Peter in the 1960s and early 70s."
Successfully defying the so-called Blue Peter curse, Purves now enjoys a tranquil life tucked away in Suffolk with his wife Kathryn Evans and their cherished dogs. Singleton, who is 88, chose not to marry or have children. She pursued a radio career post-Blue Peter before calling it a day and settling down in Somerset.