What is John Leslie doing now?

John Leslie and his then girlfriend Abbie Titmus arrive at Bow Street Magistrates court in 2003 (Photo: Getty) | Getty Images

Channel 5 are releasing a documentary about former TV presenter, John Leslie - and the allegations made against him

Now living a relatively private life, John Leslie was once at the centre of a media storm.

New documentary The Rise & Fall of John Leslie charts the presenter’s fall from a much-loved face on daytime TV to a series of scandals around his personal life.

Here is everything you need to know about John Leslie and the documentary.

Who is John Leslie?

John Leslie, 57, is a Scottish former television and radio presenter, who debuted on the Music Box channel in 1987.

Two years later, he became the first Scottish presenter on Blue Peter - and he was the second Blue Peter presenter to take part in the London Marathon, with a time of four hours and 36 minutes.

Leslie, whose full name is John Leslie Stott, was the main presenter on Wheel of Fortune UK, succeeding Bradley Walsh.

However, he was then succeeded by Paul Hendy in 2001.

In 1999, as season 11 of This Morning began, Leslie began hosting the Friday edition alongside Fern Britton.

However, after a review of viewer ratings Leslie and Britton took on the full time role at This Morning and presented the show five days a week.

In 2002, after allegations of indecent assault were made against him, Leslie was replaced by Philip Schofield from Mondays to Thursdays, and Eamonn Holmes on Fridays.

Leslie had a high profile relationship with nurse Abi Titmuss. She became famous in her own right when a video Leslie filmed of her having sex with another woman was leaked.

Leslie is the brother of radio presenter Grant Stott, and is also known to have a passion for football - in May 2006, he played in goal for the Scottish team in the Celebrity World Cup Soccer Six tournament.

He supports Hibernian, a team in the Scottish Premiership.

John Leslie takes part in the London edition of the annual fundraising tournament "Music Industry Soccer Six" at West Ham's Boleyn Ground, Upton Park on May 22, 2005 in London. (Photo by Dave Etheridge-Barnes/Getty Images) | Getty Images

What happened to John Leslie?

In October 2002, Ulrika Jonsson had written in her autobiography that "an acquaintance" had raped her when she was 19.

Television presenter Matthew Wright mistakenly named Leslie as the alleged suspect on his show, The Wright Stuff.

However, Leslie was never charged for offences against Jonsson and Wright has since apologised for the error.

The story was widely covered in the tabloids, which led to other women making accusations of indecent assault against Leslie.

He was then arrested in December 2002 on one count of rape and two counts of indecent assault - but 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 - but the charges were dropped a month later after new information from the alleged victim.

Speaking outside court, Leslie said “he had been to hell and back” and that he had "maintained [his] innocence throughout".

In July 2018, Leslie was cleared of assaulting a woman at a nightclub in June 2017 after a two-day trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court - and he announced that he was going to make a complaint against Police Scotland.

A year later, he was charged with sexually assaulting a then 30-year-old woman in Westminster in December 2008.

However, he pleaded not guilty in August and was cleared of the charge by a jury in October 2020.

His former co-presenters Anthea Turner and Fern Britton were his character witnesses in the trial.

After the verdict, Judge Deborah Taylor said: "Mr Stott, you for the second time leave this court without a stain on your character and I hope it will be the last time you have to attend."