Leslie 'considered suicide' after sex claims

John Leslie told today how he considered suicide after he was accused of indecent assault and sacked from his job as a daytime television presenter.

Leslie, who was last night hit by news that Sky TV have dropped any plans they had to give him a chat show, told the Daily Express that he loved the company of women and liked sex, but added: “I am not into rough sex.”

Hours after the Scottish presenter was cleared on Thursday, Sky said it was in talks with Leslie, whose spokesman James Herring said the channel planned a five-days-a-week prime time chatshow.

But last night Sky backtracked, issuing a brief statement which said: “Sky One has no plans to employ John Leslie.”

Mr Herring said: “We are rather confused by this turn of events.”

Better news for Leslie came when Scottish Television appeared to make moves to attract him.

A senior source at STV, part of ITV, suggested it was willing to enter into talks with Leslie “if the right opportunity came along”.

He said: “John Leslie has worked at STV off and on for 16 years culminating in hundreds of editions of Wheel of Fortune.

“He has always behaved in a responsible and professional manner. The events of Thursday make it clear that he has emerged without a stain on his character.”

The source said STV had no particular project or show in mind.

Bosses at Leslie’s previous show This Morning, from which he has been sacked, said they had “no plans” to change the line up and reinstate him.

In an interview with the Daily Express newspaper, which has bought Leslie’s story, the 6ft 5in presenter told how his weight see-sawed as he stopped eating and then binged on poor quality food.

He no longer felt like playing the piano or playing tennis and football, he said.

Then, one day in November, he came to his lowest point as he walked on Sheen Common, near his home in west London.

“From successful TV celebrity, I had suddenly become portrayed as a vile monster and I could not defend myself,” he said. “I thought the best thing to do would be to do away with myself.”

Leslie said he now feels “ashamed” of wanting to kill himself.

“I fear nothing now,” he said. “The worst has happened.”

Leslie’s home, which is reportedly worth £3m (€4.3m), is believed to have been put up for sale to cover his legal costs.

The presenter is expected to consider legal action against between six and 12 media organisations, individuals and newspapers.

Leslie’s ordeal began last October with a claim by a “well-known” woman that she had been sexually assaulted years earlier – a reference to TV host Ulrika Jonsson and a rape allegation she made in her autobiography.

However, while Ms Jonsson described her attacker as a high-profile television presenter, she never named him and has not pursued the matter with the police.

It was chat show host Matthew Wright who inadvertently linked Leslie to the allegation after blurting out his name during a live studio exchange on Channel 5.