Rape claim f ight forced me to sell everything, says Leslie
Pay ‘fell from £350k to zero’
HE was once one of the most familiar and best-paid faces on TV, with a raft of highprofile presenting jobs to his name.
But his life came crashing down when unfounded rape allegations ruined his career.
Now John Leslie has spoken in detail for the first time of his dramatic downfall, which saw him go from earning hundreds of thousands of pounds a year to making ‘not a single penny’.
The former TV star, who enjoyed lucrative roles presenting popular shows such as Blue Peter, Wheel of Fortune and This Morning, was arrested for rape and indecent assault in 2002.
The charges were eventually dropped – but he had to ‘sell absolutely everything’ in order to avoid bankruptcy.
Edinburgh-born Leslie started presenting ITV’s This Morning alongside Fern Britton in 2001 and at his peak was earning £350,000 a year.
But when broadcaster Matthew Wright accidentally identified him as an unnamed ‘ acquaintance’ who Ulrika Jonnson claimed had raped her in her autobiography, he was arrested.
The charges were dropped in July 2003.
Leslie said: ‘I lost everything overnight. ITV said I’d forfeited the right to have my contract paid up and the whole thing was a mess.
‘Everything around me was on fire and it was a hell of a place to be – and money just wasn’t at the top of my list of considerations.
‘It was about maintaining my innocence. I’d gone from earning over £300,000 to not a single penny coming in.
‘And I also started having to pay for lawyers and PR agencies, so any savings I had disappeared.
‘I spent about £500,000 on legal costs, but at least I wasn’t in jail.
‘I had to sell absolutely everything to avoid bankruptcy and to avoid going on reality television shows, which I didn’t want to do.
‘I pleaded with the bank to let me keep [his house he built in Richmond, Surrey] but was forced to sell it for £3.5million when the crash hit and the bank wanted its money back.
‘I paid them back every penny but there was nothing left. I thought I was going to get out with some money but I sold at the worst time.
‘I managed to get a mortgage by hook or by crook to buy a house next door to my mum and dad’s house in Edinburgh f or £ 110,000 and that was my lot.’
Leslie, 50, an old flame of Hollywood star Catherine ZetaJones now presents a weekday show for an Edinburgh radio station.
He said: ‘I’ve been rebuilding my life. I couldn’t get a job for four years, then eventually I got a job DJing in a local club for £400 a week, which just kept me afloat.
‘Then, after doing some community radio work, I started working for Radio Forth and now I’ve got a year’s contract to do the afternoon show from Monday to Friday, so hopefully that’ll be renewed.’
He said that his parents, who ran a newsagent’s shop, taught him from a young age the value of work and he now makes sure there will be savi ngs f or his nine- year- old daughter, Isabelle. However, he admits it is a ‘slow process’ as he is ‘starting from the ground up’.
He said: ‘I worked as early as I could as it was instilled in us how important it was to earn your own wage as soon as you could, so I did a paper round for my dad and a milk round, too, for some pocket money.
‘We didn’t really have much money and took British holidays to Butlin’s, but we never lacked for anything. We went to a good school and money just wasn’t really an issue in the house.
‘And even today money isn’t an important factor in my life. The only time money has had an impact on my life was when I didn’t have any – when I lost it all.
‘Then I realised how important money was just to survive and to do basic things that you usually took for granted.’
But asked if money makes him happy, he said: ‘ Other things are more important to me, like my sanity and surviving and staying healthy and looking after my mum and dad.
‘I’m very much a people person and I see people who are totally driven by money and getting even more money. I don’t think it makes them happier though.
‘Money gives you options, but it doesn’t necessarily make you happier.’
‘Any savings I had disappeared’