15th May 1972 - 12th April 1979
Born: 20th December 1946
Presented with John Noakes, Valerie Singleton, Peter Purves, Simon Groom and Christopher Wenner.
Lesley was a dancer with The Young Generation troupe when she was first introduced to the Blue Peter viewers in an item where she taught Val, John and Peter a routine, with hilarious consequences. Lesley was therefore an ideal choice to join the team.
Before her lengthy stint on the show, she appeared as a dancer in the film Half a Sixpence, a musical starring Tommy Steele. This wasn't to be her only appearance in a drama; she would go on to play a newsreader in the 1984 post-nuclear apocalypse drama Threads.
During her stint with the show Lesley was queen of the makes, but she also showed her plucky side by taking part in quite dangerous film reports.
Lesley left the show to look after her husband, Terry Gabell (a Blue Peter film editor), who had multiple sclerosis. She kept her hand in by providing continuity links for Southern TV, and playing the 'mole' on The Adventure Game.
She later went on to present In the Limelight with Lesley - similar to Val meets the VIPs, which Val Singleton fronted from 1973-1974. Lesley has recently worked as a conference organiser and speaker in France.
Top Blue Peter moment: The famous Bishop's Lighthouse report, when it looked like she was about to plunge into the murky depths.
