FOR much of his career, Grant Stott was the less famous younger sibling living in the shadow of former This Morning presenter John Leslie.
Now, a decade after Leslie quit as a presenter of the ITV1 show, Stott appears to have the upper hand in the brotherly battle.
The pair will go head-to-head over Edinburgh's airwaves after Leslie signed up to host a show for community radio Castle FM. Stott is already a DJ presenter on its bigger rival Forth FM.
Leslie, 47, saw his television career wrecked after becoming mired in allegations of sex and drug taking in 2002. It also followed his name being blurted out on live TV by presenter Matthew Wright, in connection with claims by Ulrika Jonsson she had been raped by an unnamed celebrity.
He quit London for his family home and was also charged with indecently assaulting a woman, but the case was dropped by prosecutors in 2003. Leslie has strenuously denied he was the mystery TV presenter and no charges were ever brought over the allegations.
Stott, 45, who was a presenter on STV's Scotsport, has led a quieter life, but has always been cast in Leslie's shadow. He began his career at the then Forth One radio station 1998 and is also a regular on the Edinburgh panto circuit.
Castle FM, previously Leith FM until a relaunch in March, said Leslie "deserved a break" after lurid, unproven allegations followed by a decade in the wilderness.
Leslie, whose full name is John Leslie Stott, said: "I've had a pretty traumatic last 10 years – 10 years in which I haven't worked. But what pulled me through was being back in Edinburgh and having the support of family and friends.
"If can do my bit for the community – and say a thank-you of sorts to the life I was able to rebuild back in the capital and to the people who have helped me over the past 10 years – by working with Castle FM, I will be very pleased."
Leslie said he was "delighted to get this opportunity", adding: "I am determined to make the show a must-listen.
"Friday night between 4pm and 7pm is my favourite time of the week – it's the time everyone has switched off from work and is looking forward to the weekend.
"I'm planning to seize on all that excitement and energy and add my own enthusiasm to create a show full of great chat and great music.
"I've obviously had plenty of presenting, TV and broadcasting experience in the past but never tackled being a radio DJ. Who knows where things will go from here but I'm just focusing on doing the best job I can."
Donny Hughes, Castle FM's business development manager, said: "He's due a break.
"I've known John for decades and I know he loves Edinburgh through and through."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article