The BBC children’s TV presenter Mark Speight has denied having anything to do with the death of his fiancee, Natasha Collins, after he was arrested on suspicion of her murder.

Mr Speight, best known as the presenter of the BBC children’s art show SMart, was detained yesterday after the sudden death of Ms Collins, an actress and fellow TV presenter, who was found dead in the bath at the flat the couple shared in northwest London.

He was bailed by police this morning after being held overnight on suspicion of murder and supplying class A drugs - believed to be cocaine.

But in a statement released through his lawyers, the 42-year-old presenter denied having anything to do with Ms Collins's death.

The statement said: “At the moment no-one knows what happened. Mark found her body in the bathroom and immediately called an ambulance and the police.

“The police are conducting further enquiries and a post-mortem is under way. Mark was the only other person present in the flat and has therefore been questioned by police as a matter of course.

“He is assisting police with their enquiries and had nothing to do with Natasha’s death. Mark is absolutely distraught at the loss of Natasha and hopes that everyone will appreciate what a very sad time this is for both Mark and Natasha’s family.”

Scotland Yard said that police were called to a flat in St John’s Wood at 1.20pm yesterday after reports of the “sudden death of a woman” which they are treating as "unexplained".

“The woman, aged in her 30s, was pronounced dead at the scene,” the Metropolitan Police said.

“A post-mortem will be held in due course, details to be confirmed. A man in his 40s was arrested at the scene. He has been bailed to return to a Central London police station on a date in February.”

Mr Speight, who shot to fame as the rubber-faced presenter of the Children’s ITV Saturday morning show Scratchy & Co has been a children’s TV show favourite for over a decade.

He has also appeared on the BBC’s religious show Heaven and Earth, as well as on ITV’s This Morning.

Ms Collins was also a model and starred alongside him on BBC children’s show See It Saw It.

Ms Collins’s mother released a statement through police in which she said the family were “all absolutely distraught over the death of Natasha”.

“She was our loving caring daughter who was always full of life. This is a very emotional time for us as a family. We ask simply to be allowed to grieve at this time,” Mrs Collins said.

Clive Doig, managing director of independent TV production company Brechin, which made See It Saw It for three years from 1998, described Ms Collins as a “very good young actress”.

“She was a lot of fun working with us. She was See, a court jester to the king, played by Mark Speight. I’m shocked to hear of her death. It’s terribly sad.”

Ms Collins’s casting agency, HandE, said she was a “wonderful, confident young lady (whose) beauty was inside and out”.

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