Richard Bacon, 48, unrecognisable - 26 years since Blue Peter drugs scandal sacking
Former Blue Peter star Richard Bacon looks very different from his days on the kids' magazine show. The 48 year old Richard joined Blue Peter in 1997 alongside Romana D'Annunzio, Katy Hill, Konnie Huq and Stuart Miles, and quickly built himself as a household name in kids' entertainment.
But his squeaky-clean reputation suffered a blow in October 1998, when a tabloid newspaper published a report of him taking cocaine outside a London nightclub. Richard, who was replaced by Simon Thomas, a vicar's son, after the story leaked, went down in history as the first person ever to be sacked from Blue Peter. More than two decades later, Richard has forged a successful career as a TV producer in Los Angeles, where he lives with his wife Rebecca McFarlane and their two children Arthur, 13, and 10 year old daughter Ivy.
In July, Richard took to Instagram from a music recording studio, where he revealed to his followers he was working on a new talent show idea. In the photos, Richard had quaffed grey hair and clear Perspex glasses, looking worlds away from his Blue Peter days. Captioning the photos, he wrote: "Testing a new music talent show idea / mechanic with @awsuki today (thanks for flying from Sweden). Think it might actually b****y work. (If I never post about this again then… it wont have worked)."
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Richard's firing made big news at the time, with the BBC's head of children's programmes Lorraine Heggessey issuing a statement about the termination of his contract. She said: "It is sad that such a talented presenter as Richard Bacon has not only let himself and his colleagues down but, most important of all, he has let down the millions of children who watch Blue Peter."
Last year, Richard showed he's moved on from the ordeal, as he made a cheeky joke about his sacking. Taking to Twitter to pay tribute to Blue Peter on its 65th anniversary, before reflecting on it as "the most important stage of my career".
"Yes sure, I may not have lasted, you know, THAT long* But I love Blue Peter deeply. (I lost my job for poor punctuality**) (**When you take drugs, you tend to run late)," he added.
Richard has been open and honest about his past struggles and in 2018, vowed to cut out booze and drugs to improve his lifestyle after he was placed in a medically induced coma due to a lung condition. Speaking to The Times, Richard said that his near-death experience had given him a fresh outlook on life. "I drink too fast, and I drink too quickly. Four or five drinks a night," he said. "In LA, I've been smoking weed [too]. It's all legal over there. I'm going to stop that a well." He added: "I'll be a better employee - more creative - and a better dad."
