TV presenting legend John Leslie has carved an impressive and very different career path for himself following years of success on the small screen, since his first appearance on the Music Box channel in 1987. The 58-year-old presenter worked as a DJ in nightclubs in Edinburgh and Newcastle before his rise to stardom and was one of the most popular faces on television in his younger years.
After Music Box, he shot to fame as the host of children's favourite Blue Peter in 1989. He took over from Bradley Walsh as the main presenter on Wheel of Fortune and co-hosted This Morning alongside Fern Britton from 1999 until 2002, reports the Mirror.
Despite no longer being a regular feature on our TV screens, John has forged a successful career in radio and had a stint as a property developer. In November 2012, John Leslie began to present Friday's Drivetime show on 98.8 Castle FM and was among the presenters who walked out in disagreement with the management. He then began presenting his own Saturday radio show in March 2014.
Now he has an impressive property portfolio, owning houses in both Glasgow and London, and was renting out his luxury Edinburgh home to tourists for £350 a night. John owns properties across the UK under the company Les & Lex Limited, which is named after his parents, alongside business partner Ian Cunningham.
According to Edinburgh Live, the most expensive purchase was made on Gillespie Terrace, for an eye-watering £425,000 back in April 2018.
John had a succession of glamorous celebrity girlfriends, including Hollywood actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, whom he met in 1991 at a party after a Chesney Hawkes concert. He once told the Daily Express: "It was the real thing alright. I was in love with her and she was in love with me, no question.
"She was lovely, we were together for 18 months, but in the end it didn't work out. And no, it wasn't because she wanted marriage and babies and I wasn't ready to commit."
The TV presenter then started dating former glamour model Abi Titmuss, who reportedly helped him navigate the toughest moments of his life. "It was very hard for me to fill my days. I had no money left, my life was crumbling. Abi, throughout this, was there for me 24/7," John said on Richard and Judy's show. "I don't think I would have come out of it as well as I have without her."
In 2004, a sex tape involving Titmuss, Leslie and an aspiring model came to light, and when asked if they would remain friends after the split, Leslie replied: "We will be friends for life."
However, Abi later admitted if she had the chance to go back in time she would never have spoken to John in the first place and said she would have made a very different decision that night in Fulham, given the opportunity.
"I did not talk to John because he was famous. But I talked to John because I fancied him and he seemed very nice to start with," she told The Sun.
"It was a Sliding Doors moment, where someone’s life can go one way or another. If I had not gone with John I would have avoided all the madness that followed.
"And for the sake of my parents, who have suffered so much, if I could do it all again I would act differently. I would walk out of that bar and never look back."
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