Where are Blue Peter stars now from 'phone scandal' to Edinburgh controversy

Edinburgh Live

01-05-2025

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Here's a blunder from the past!
The wholesome reputation of Blue Peter, the world's longest-running children's TV programme, has occasionally been marred by the behaviour of its presenters.
From Richard Bacon's cocaine scandal in the '90s to Scottish entertainer John Leslie's leaked sex tape and sexual assault allegations; Konnie Huq's phone-in controversies and the failure of TV bosses to shield their youngest ever host Yvette Fielding from notorious paedophile Rolf Harris, the show has sometimes made headlines for all the wrong reasons since its 1958 debut.
But what became of the hosts after they bid farewell to the show?
Here, we delve into the varied fortunes of some of Blue Peter's most beloved presenters..., reports the Mirror.
Richard Bacon.
One of the show's most notorious former presenters, Richard is now a successful US TV producer based in LA, where he comes up with new concepts for game shows. However, nearly three decades on, Bacon, now 47, remains best known for his dismissal from Blue Peter for using cocaine in a London nightclub.
Fired in October 1998, the then 22 year old became the first presenter on the children's show to have his contract terminated mid-run when he confessed to taking the Class A drug following a Sunday tabloid's exposé. Despite the scandal, Bacon's television career survived, and he went on to host The Big Breakfast and Top of The Pops, as well as having an afternoon slot on BBC Radio 5 Live.
In 2014, Bacon relocated to the United States to host a daytime TV show and shared about his struggles with addiction, particularly with alcohol, during his past. He confided in The Guardian, stating, "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."
Four years later, Bacon's health took a drastic turn when he became severely unwell during a visit to the UK. He was rushed to Lewisham Hospital's A&E, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia and put into an induced coma.
Richard later recounted that doctors told him, "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."
Upon regaining consciousness nine days later, Bacon discovered that the London hospital's ICU team had performed a life-saving tracheotomy.
Currently residing in Los Angeles with his wife, Rebecca McFarlane, and their two children, Arthur (14) and Ivy (11), Bacon quipped that despite his accomplishments, his obituary would inevitably highlight his dismissal from Blue Peter.
John Leslie.
(Image: Press Association)
Preceding Bacon's tenure on Blue Peter, Scottish presenter John Leslie co-hosted the show from 1989 to 1994 alongside the late Caron Keating and Anthea Turner. Leslie was previously in a high-profile relationship with Hollywood actress Catherine Zeta-Jones but garnered more attention for his involvement with nurse and model Abi Titmuss, particularly when an explicit video he filmed of her was leaked.
However, Leslie's successful career co-hosting This Morning with Fern Britton took a nosedive in 2002 when Swedish TV presenter Ulrika Johnson disclosed in her autobiography that she had been raped at 19 by "an acquaintance", and his name was accidentally and incorrectly said by Matthew Wright on live television.
Despite being acquitted 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.Forced to sell his £3.5m mansion and move back to his native Edinburgh, Leslie survived on royalties and DJing. Having fought his way back from being".
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, Leslie, now 60, is currently a property developer and resides with his girlfriend Kate Moore.
However, Leslie has continued to be plagued by past assault allegations, including a woman claiming he groped her breasts at a celebrity party in 2008 and another accusation in 2017 where he was alleged to have put his hand down the back of a woman's trousers while dancing.
Leslie has consistently vehemently denied both allegations and was acquitted in both cases.
Yvette Fielding.
Notorious paedophile Rolf Harris was a frequent guest on many 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, Fielding levelled accusations against the BBC, claiming it had failed in its duty of care towards her. In an interview with The Sun, she recounted a disturbing encounter with Rolf Harris, stating, "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'."
Now 56, Fielding is renowned for co-creating and hosting the paranormal TV show Most Haunted alongside her husband, cameraman and producer Karl Beattie.
Konnie Huq
(Image: BBC)
Konnie Huq, who co-presented with Richard Bacon and was the show's longest-serving female presenter from 1997 to 2008, was compelled to issue an on-air apology for a phone-in scandal that resulted in the BBC being fined a record £50,000 by Ofcom.
The controversy centred on a Blue Peter competition to identify the celebrity owner of a pair of shoes, where the results were fabricated after technical issues prevented genuine calls from reaching the studio. Instead, a child visiting the studio was allowed to pose as a caller.
Huq was also embroiled in the show's cat-naming controversy, later admitting, "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."
At 49, the London-based mother of two and wife of Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker has transitioned from television presenting and appearing as a celebrity panelist on game shows to penning books and scripts. She's now garnered success as an author writing for children.
Pet Scandals.
Blue Peter wasn't adverse to pulling the wool over their young audience's eyes, experiencing its first animal-related scandal in 1962. It was later revealed that the initial pet Petra was not the original dog but an urgent stand-in after the first pooch sadly passed away from distemper just two days before her scheduled debut.
Biddy Baxter, who presided over Blue Peter as editor until her retirement in 1988, confessed in her autobiography, "Married to Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker, the 49-year-old mum-of-two in London swapped TV presenting and celebrity game show panellist roles for writing books and scripts, and is now a successful children's author.Pet scandalsIt wasn't unknown for the show to pull the wool over their young viewers' eyes, and had its first scandal involving an animal in 1962.
It came out many years later that the first pet Petra was actually an emergency replacement for the original dog who had died of distemper two days before she first appeared on the show.Veteran Blue Peter editor Biddy Baxter, who retired in 1988, revealed in her book, The Woman Who Made Blue Peter, " that substituting the canine without alarming viewers was necessary: "It was unthinkable to traumatise our youngest viewers, so we had to trawl London for the dead pup's lookalike."
The programme also witnessed a tug-of-war over Blue Peter's beloved collie Shep when iconic presenter John Noakes, part of the show during its halcyon days alongside Valerie Singleton and Peter Purves, decided to leave after a 12-year tenure.
Noakes, who had become inseparable from the energetic Shep since the dog's television debut in 1971, expressed his frustration at the time, saying, "I thought Shep was mine – they told me I could keep him, but they went back on their word."
In her memoirs, Leicester-native Biddy Baxter, presently aged 91, detailed that Noakes did indeed take Shep with him until his global sailing expedition in 1982 with his spouse Vicky, subsequent to which the show's pet carer Edith Menezes took in the dog. Sadly, Noakes passed away in 2017.
Peter Duncan.
In 1980, the daring Noakes was succeeded by another action-oriented figure, actor Peter Duncan, who had previously appeared nude in a risqué film titled The Lifetaker.
Despite the ensuing controversy, Duncan, who co-hosted with Simon Groom, Sarah Greene and Janet Ellis, wasn't dismissed. Reflecting on the incident, he says, "They labelled me a soft porn star and it was nonsense. Yes, there was a bit of soft-focus nudity, but it wasn't salacious."
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 Duncan remains active every Christmas for panto season with his Jack and the Beanstalk production.
Stars lost too soon.
When Duncan departed from the show in 1984, he was replaced by Michael Sundin, whose tenure was marred by controversy when rumours about his homosexuality led 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.
Blue Peter legend and its longest-serving male presenter, Peter Purves, is still going strong at the impressive age of 86. Having been a part of the iconic show from 1967 to 1978, he made headlines for a fleeting romantic encounter with fellow presenter Valerie Singleton during his marriage.
Candid about the affair, Purves later revealed: "It was only one night. We remained great friends."
Additionally, the seasoned broadcaster faced a health scare with skin cancer, which he attributes to his global adventures during filming. He recounted to The Mail on Sunday: "I travelled to 27 countries with Blue Peter in the 1960s and early 70s."
Both having gracefully sidestepped the so-called Blue Peter curse, Purves now enjoys a tranquil life in rural Suffolk with his wife Kathryn Evans and their beloved dogs. Valerie Singleton, on the other hand, now 88, has chosen a life without marriage or children.
Following a fruitful stint in radio post-Blue Peter, she now resides in serene retirement in Somerset.