John Leslie's huge property empire as ex-TV host launches very different career
John Leslie was one of the nation's most popular TV presenters - but now he has a taken a very different career path.
Before his rise to stardom, Leslie worked as a DJ in nightclubs in Edinburgh and Newcastle, then made his first TV appearance on the Music Box channel in 1987.
Leslie became the first Scottish host of children's favourite Blue Peter in 1989 - and in his final episode he abseiled down BBC Television Centre, completed a velcro and wheelbarrow obstacle course, trampolining and conducted an orchestra in the studio.
He took over from Bradley Walsh as the main presenter on Wheel of Fortune and co-hosted This Morning alongside Fern Britton from 1999 until 2002.
John had a succession of glamorous celebrity girlfriends, including Hollywood actress Catherine Zeta Jones.
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Fern Britton and John Leslie presenting This Morning (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)He met Catherine, who is now married to A-lister Michael Douglas, in 1991 at a party after a Chesney Hawkes concert.
Leslie once told the Daily Express: "It was the real thing alright. I was in love with her and she was in love with me, no question.
"She was lovely, we were together for 18 months, but in the end it didn't work out.
"And no, it wasn't because she wanted marriage and babies and I wasn't ready to commit."
The TV presenter than started dating former glamour model Abi Titmuss, who helped him through the toughest moment of his life.
"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," John said on Richard and Judy's show.
"I don't think I would have come out of it as well as I have without her."
John Leslie and ex-girlfriend Abi Titmuss in 2003 (Press Association)In 2004, a sex tape involving Titmuss, Leslie and an aspiring model came to light.
When asked if they would remain friends after the split, Leslie replied: "We will be friends for life."
However, Abi later admitted if she had the chance to go back in time she would never have spoken to John in the first place.
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If she had the chance to go back in time, she would have made a very different decision that night in Fulham.
"I did not talk to John because he was famous. But I talked to John because I fancied him and he seemed very nice to start with," she told The Sun.
"It was a Sliding Doors moment, where someone’s life can go one way or another. If I had not gone with John I would have avoided all the madness that followed.
"And for the sake of my parents, who have suffered so much, if I could do it all again I would act differently. I would walk out of that bar and never look back."
John Leslie pictured in 2018 (Duncan McGlynn SWNS.com)John is no longer on our TV screens but has forged a successful career on radio and had a stint as a property developer.
He started volunteering as a local radio DJ in Edinburgh and was living alone in a bungalow on the edge of the city.
In November 2012, John Leslie began to present Friday's Drivetime show on 98.8 Castle FM and was among the presenters who walked out in disagreement with the management.
They were locked out of the building when they returned and by the end of the year the radio station had become automated with no presenters.
He began presenting his own Saturday radio show across Scottish Bauer Radio Am network in March 2014.
Now he has an impressive property portfolio, owning houses in both Glasgow and London, and was renting out his posh Edinburgh pad to tourists for £350 a night.
With business partner Ian Cunningham, John owns properties across the UK under the company Les & Lex limited, which is named after his parents.
According to Edinburgh Live, The most expensive purchase was made on Gillespie Terrace, with building 40 snapped up for a cool £425,000 back in April 2018.
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