Brothels, cocaine, suicide and cruelest of tragedies – what 90s kids' TV hosts did next

This Morning favourite Phillip Schofield was the subject of pub chatter across Britain last week after he came out as gay.

He took the brave decision to open up about his sexuality after 27 years of marriage to his wife, Stephanie Lowe. It came after years of personal torment for the 57-year-old telly stalwart.

Life, it seemed, was much simpler for Schofe when he was presenting in the Children’s BBC Broom Cupboard next to his trusty puppet pal Gordon the Gopher.

Not that it’s going to be much of a consolation to the star who has told of his internal battle, but he isn’t the first kids’ TV star to hit the front pages.

From sex and drugs scandals to heartbreaking personal tragedies, here’s how a handful of other children’s telly presenters found infamy…

Jamie Theakston

In the 90s, Jamie Theakston became a household name, presenting The O Zone, Live & Kicking, Top of the Pops and The Priory.

Something of a ladies’ man, he’d been linked to Kylie Minogue, Natalie Appleton, Tamzin Outhwaite and had just split from actress Joely Richardson when he found himself at the centre of a sex scandal.

Then 31, Theakston was forced to apologise after being caught on camera in an orgy with three prostitutes at a brothel in London’s swanky Mayfair.

He said: “This is the first time this has happened. It was one night before Christmas that went too far. As someone who values their privacy, it is extremely embarrassing and I would like to apologise to my close friends and family.”

The romp took place after 4am after he had been at a party. He was forced to come clean after “some girls” burst into the brothel room and took a picture during a sex act before he faced demands for money.

“I know it was foolish for me to get into this situation in the first place but I’m not married, I’m a single guy, I haven’t broken the law,” he said. “You just have to stand up to these people.”

Theakston kept his job at Radio 1 and has continued to enjoy a successful career on both TV and radio. He’s been married to Sophie Siegle since 2007 and they have two children.

Richard Bacon

Former Blue Peter presenter Richard Bacon reckons getting sacked from the kids’ show was the best thing that happened to him.

However, he doesn’t condone or recommend the act that set him on his new career path.

Bacon, then 22, was given the boot after he admitted snorting cocaine. He apologised, saying: “I regret what I did but it was in my personal time and I therefore hope that it does not reflect on the show.”

He went on to land roles presenting shows including Top of the Pops and The Big Breakfast. And he believes his ‘naughty boy’ image was what got him the gigs.

Later, he carved out a hugely successful career in talk radio, fronting his own show on Radio 5 Live, and in 2014 left the UK to live and work in Los Angeles.

Now 44, he’s married with two children and hosts his own gameshow in the US. In 2018, he had a brush with death, spending 11 days in a coma after being struck down with pneumonia.

Mark Speight

A talented cartoonist, Mark Speight shot to fame hosting BBC kids’ show SMart alongside Jay Burridge and Zoe Ball in the mid-90s.

He also appeared on ITV’s Saturday morning show Scratchy & Co. and acted in a number of children’s programmes. as well as working on adult shows such as This Morning and The Big Breakfast.

Between 1999 and 2001 he fronted kids’ game show See It Saw It with Natasha Collins. She was forced to leave the show after being hit by a car, but the pair remained close and started dating two years later.

But in January 2008, tragedy struck, sending Speight into a downward spiral. He had been engaged to Collins for three years when he found her unresponsive in the bath at their London flat.

She was later pronounced dead. Speight told police they had spent the previous night “partying”, taking cocaine and sleeping pills while drinking wine and vodka.

He was arrested on suspicion of murder and supplying Class A drugs. A few weeks later, officers said he was no longer a suspect.

An inquest in April of that year returned a verdict of death by misadventure, with the cause of death given as “cocaine toxicity and immersion in hot water”.

Later that month, Speight, 42, was found hanged from the roof of a building near London’s Paddington Station a week after he was reported missing.

An inquest recorded a verdict of suicide after two notes were discovered. The hearing was told he had fallen into a deep depression after Colllins’ death.

Simon Thomas

Another former Blue Peter presenter, Simon Thomas spent six years on the long running children’s TV show before joining the team at Sky Sports News.

By 2016, he had progressed to become one of the broadcaster’s anchors for Premier League matches, working alongside pundits including Graeme Souness, Jamie Redknapp and Thierry Henry.

Then in 2017, tragedy struck. Thomas’ wife Gemma died aged 40 on November 24, just three days after being diagnosed with leukaemia. She left Thomas and their son Ethan behind.

Thomas, now 47, left the Sky Sports team in 2018 to spend more time with his son. He has spoken openly about the loss of his wife and the challenge of guiding Ethan through the grieving process.

Danielle Nicholls

While Jamie Theakston, Dick and Dom and co. were presenting to CBBC viewers in the late 90s, over on ITV the face of children’s TV was Danielle Nicholls.

The smiley Mancunian fronted CITV alongside Stephen Mulhern from 1998 to 2001. She later worked on Diggit and then with Mark Speight on the Speight of the Art roadshow.

Presenting jobs for Channel 5, Sky Movies, NTL Broadband UK and Text2Date followed before she bagged her current weekly slot on Salford City Radio.

The 41-year-old, whose sister is glamour model Jodie Nicholls, is married to retired footballer Dean Holden. The couple experienced personal tragedy in 2012 when their daughter Cici Milly died from meningococcal disease, aged 17 months old, during a family holiday in Lanzarote.

Jayne Middlemiss

Hot property in the 90s, Jayne Middlemiss ditched her modelling career to focus on presenting and landed jobs hosting The O-Zone and Top of the Pops.

She got her big break after another CBBC presenter, Toby Anstis, gave her tape to a producer after meeting her at a party.

After leaving kids’ TV, she presented various shows including Robot Wars, The Games, and she’s Gotta Have It.

In 2005, she appeared on Celebrity Love Island, where she became briefly romantically involved with former footballer Lee Sharpe. She won the show.

Over the past 15 years, she’s appeared on TV sporadically. One notable appearance came in 2009 when she won Celebrity MasterChef. She also won Pointless Celebrities alongside Jamie Theakston in 2012.

These days, the 49-year-old Geordie does a bit of presenting on Absolute Radio and is a huge advocate of yoga.