Children’s presenter denies involvement in fiancée’s death
The BBC presenter, bailed by police on suspicion of murder and supplying class A drugs, said he was “absolutely distraught” by what had happened.
Ms Collins, also a TV presenter, was found in the bathroom of the penthouse home they shared in St John’s Wood, north-west London. Police said a suspected drug overdose was one line of inquiry.
The tragedy comes days after the suspected drug-related death of former BBC Radio 1 breakfast DJ Kevin Greening.
A spokeswoman for Mr Speight said: “Mark has been questioned by the police on account of the fact that the body of his fiancée, Natasha Collins, was found in the flat they shared.
“At the moment no one knows what happened. Mark found her body in the bathroom and immediately called an ambulance and the police.
“The police are conducting further inquiries and a postmortem is under way.
“Mark was the only other person present in the flat and has therefore been questioned by police as a matter of course.
“He is assisting police with their inquiries and had nothing to do with Natasha’s death.
“Mark is absolutely distraught at the loss of Natasha and hopes that everyone will appreciate what a very sad time this is for both Mark and Natasha’s family,” said the spokeswoman.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “Police were called at 1.20pm on January 3 to reports of a sudden death of a woman at a residential address in St John’s Wood.
“The woman, aged 31, was pronounced dead at the scene.
“A man in his 40s was arrested at the scene. He has been bailed to return to a central London police station on a date in early February.” The death is being treated as “unexplained”, he added.
Mr Speight is best known for the BBC children’s show SMart.
He shot to fame as the rubber-faced presenter of Children’s ITV Saturday morning show Scratchy & Co.
Ms Collins starred alongside him on BBC children’s show See It Saw It.
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