John Leslie quizzed over rape claim
FORMER children's television presenter John Leslie was last night quizzed by detectives over rape and indecent assault allegations before being released on bail.
The former Blue Peter and This Morning host, 43, voluntarily attended a London police station where he was arrested by officers.
Detectives were alerted to the allegations late last year, when a woman - whose identity is not known - reported that Leslie had allegedly sexually assaulted her in November 1995.
Speaking last night, a spokesman for Scotland Yard said: "We are investigating an allegation of rape and indecent assault on a woman dating from November 1995.
"At approximately 7pm this evening a man aged in his 40s attended a London police station by appointment and was arrested in connection with the inquiry.
"He was interviewed and bailed pending further inquiries to a date in late August."
Leslie presented Blue Peter for four years and was proud of sporting the programme's distinctive badge.
After spells in pantomime and a failed audition for The Rocky Horror Picture Show, he moved on to TV shows Scavengers, Survivor Unseen and Wheel of Fortune.
He eventually stepped into the shoes of Richard Madeley on ITV's This Morning, pocketing a reported £200,000 before leaving the show in 2002.
Leslie was born in Edinburgh in 1965, the son of a biscuit salesman and social worker.
He abandoned his real surname Stott when a television executive said foreign viewers might have difficulty pronouncing it.
As a schoolboy he was passionate about music and was a choirboy.
He graduated from college in music technology and began his career as a resident disc jockey in a Copenhagen hotel.
Leslie sent a demo tape to every TV station and became floor manager on the television rock show The Roxy, where an executive encouraged him to pursue broadcasting.
He was hired by Yorkshire TV to front their all-night pop show, The Music Box.
