Richard Bacon Denies Snorting Cocaine Off Blue Peter Tortoises

Former Blue Peter presenter Richard Bacon, who was famously fired from the show in 1998 after admitting to taking cocaine, has revealed that no tortoises were involved in his drug taking - in case you were wondering.

It was headline news back in the 90s when Bacon dropped from the show shortly after its 40th anniversary.

And now, more than two decades on, Bacon has put to bed any rumours that the Blue Peter beloved pets were involved in his cocaine binge.

Appearing on Dave's Unforgivable, hosted by Mel Giedroyc and Lou Sanders, Bacon was questioned about the incident.

Bacon then joked: "I got fired for punctuality because if you take a lot of coke you're always late."

At this point, Giedroyc brought up the bizarre urban legend about Bacon snorting cocaine off the shells of the Blue Peter pet tortoises.

She said: "Do you remember Fred and Frieda the tortoises? Big white lines."

Fellow guest Judi Love gasped at the suggestion and asked: "He gave them coke?"

Only for Bacon to quickly step in to say: "I didn't give any tortoises coke. So I got fired for taking drugs."

He went on to joke: "They would shout 'that's a wrap' and I would shout 'where?'"

Bacon was 22 when he was sacked from the show - he went on to present Channel 4's The Big Breakfast.

Speaking in a statement at the time, the BBC's Lorraine Heggessey 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."

Despite being dismissed, Bacon popped up on the show's 60th anniversary celebrations, where he said: "I can never hold down a job for long. I've hosted a lot of shows in a lot of places.

"And yet the one I have the most affection for is the one I got fired from. Happy Birthday Blue Peter. I love you."

Speaking on the Crisis What Crisis? podcast, he said: "I am sitting in a room in my house in Los Angeles and there is one of those Amazon Alexas next to me and my kids said, 'Oh Alexa, who is Richard Bacon?'

"And it comes up straight away, 'Richard Bacon is an English television presenter. He was fired from Blue Peter in 1998 for taking...'

"I jumped in and said, 'Alexa stop. Stop'. They said, 'What are you saying stop for? Why did you get fired?'. And then they asked again."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: TV and Film, Celebrity

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

@ClaireReid19