Scots TV host John Leslie was one of the most recognisable faces on TV in the 90s and 2000s.
He was a household name after becoming the first Scottish presenter of Blue Peter, and even enjoyed a stint fronting This Morning with Fern Britton.
His career came crashing down when he was wrongly accused of raping a well known television star.
Ulrika Jonsson had revealed she was allegedly raped by a fellow celebrity in her autobiography but she didn't name anyone.
Leslie was wrongly named as the person in question by Channel 5 host Matthew Wright.
However, Leslie had always hoped he could have "resurrected" his lucrative career, until a sex tape of him and ex Abi Titmuss surfaced online.
Wright had issued a grovelling apology at the time and went on to repeat it many times while Leslie denied the allegations.
Leslie also attended court a number of times on various different charges relating to sexual misconduct, with the most recent case in 2020 when he faced a jury after being accused of grabbing a woman's breast without consent in 2008.
Being found not guilty on all sexual misconduct charges, TV commentator and columnist Carole Malone believes that he thought he'd be able to return to the spotlight, as reports the Mirror.
But things got even harder for Leslie after a video of him being intimate with glamour model girlfriend Abi Titmuss and another woman surfaced online.
Speaking on Channel 5's new documentary, The Rise and Fall of John Leslie, Carole Malone, columnist and TV commentator, shared of the sex tape scandal: "I think John always believed he could come back. I think he always believed his career could be resurrected. He was like a wounded animal, but he thought he could come back at some point but Abi really didn't help."
He had previously spoken of how his then-girlfriend had stood by him when he was on trial and he said she had been a tower of strength throughout his ordeal, but said their relationship was under "tremendous pressure".
"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," Mr Leslie said at the time, "I don't think I would have come out of it as well as I have without her."
He had also previously explained how his life had been "shattered" after the false allegations and trials.
"My life has been shattered because of the false accusations. I was never able to move on – it was like an illness lingering that couldn’t be cured," he explained, "I was labelled a monster. I once contemplated suicide because I couldn’t see a way out. I thought that was one way I could stop the pain for Mum and Dad. I’m always thinking people are judging me.
"It felt like they were saying 'he’s the guy who has been accused of hurting women'. I became a hermit."
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