TV host in $2m blackmail

David Letterman admitted having affairs with his staff while onÂ…

12:20 02 October 2009

US chat show veteran David Letterman has confessed that he had sexual relationships with female members of his staff.

He came clean during a recording of his show after also revealing that an attempt had been made to blackmail him over the affairs.

Letterman told his studio audience that a person threatened to expose the relationships unless a payment of $2m (£1.2m) was made.

He went on to say that he issued the blackmailer and a fake cheque and that thanks to prosecutors at the Manhattan District Attorney's office an arrest was made on Thursday.

The suspect who was arrested has not been named.

Letterman said: "This morning, I did something I've never done in my life. I had to go downtown and testify before a grand jury."

He said that in his testimony he acknowledged sexual relationships with members of his staff.

David Letterman has presented the 'Late Show' on CBS since 1993. His production company Worldwide Pants declined to comment.

Letterman married his long-term girlfriend Regina Lasko in March and they have a six-year old son.

It isn't the first time he has been exploited over his career however. In 2005, Kelly Frank, a former painter on Letterman's Montana ranch planned to kidnap his son and nanny aiming for a $5 million ransom.

Letterman has also been stalked on numerous occasions. In 1998, Margaret Ray, who suffers from schizophrenia, spent two years in prison and a mental institution for breaking into his home and stealing his Porsche. She later killed herself by kneeling in front of a train.

%%youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xPre-Wwz9I