Richard Bacon reveals panic as Amazon Alexa tells his children about Blue Peter cocaine scandal

Presenter was fired from BBC show in 1998 over drug use

Richard Bacon has revealed how he rushed to turn off his Amazon Alexa after it began telling his children about his cocaine scandal.

In 1998, Bacon was fired from Blue Peter after his cocaine use was exposed in the tabloid press. Following his dismissal, he made a public apology,

Speaking about how his young children almost found out, Bacon told The Sun he was in his house in Los Angeles when they asked Amazon Alexa, ‘Who is Richard Bacon?’

“And it comes up straight away,” he said. “‘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.”

Expressing his frustration over the two-decade old incident still dominating stories about him online, Bacon added: “And so it is right there at the surface even though it was 21 years ago.”

On how it affects him getting work in the US, he said: “In America they find it funny I suppose. It comes up as soon as you Google it.

“It’s about getting their first, isn’t it?

“Anyone who has a very big dominant scandal in their life it will always be there in some form so it’s partly about you own it by making a joke about it. A good way to own it is to use humour."

Bacon previously said the scandal "had a huge impact" on his life, and is "almost as big a part of me now as one of my limbs".