Former BBC presenter and "Celebrity Big Brother" contestant Singh Kohli is scheduled to stand trial on 20 charges of rape and other sexual offenses. The 57-year-old denied all charges through his legal team during a hearing at the High Court in Glasgow. The accusations, detailed in a five-page indictment, cover a period from January 2006 to June 2021.
Among the charges are five counts of rape involving one woman. The alleged incidents include rape on various occasions at a property near Glasgow between June and July 2020, and further alleged rapes in the city's east end up to February 2021. The indictment states one final rape allegedly occurred in June 2021 when the woman was incapacitated and unable to consent.
Kohli, who is from Kelvinside in Glasgow, also faces four sexual assault charges related to the same woman. These include allegations of forcing her to wear a blindfold and spitting on her. He is further accused of engaging in a two-year pattern of abusive behavior, which allegedly involved requesting intimate images, monitoring her relationships and movements, and harassing her with calls and texts. The indictment also states he is accused of coercing the woman into giving him money, locking her out of his house, visiting her uninvited, and discarding food she prepared.
Additional charges include indecently assaulting another woman at BBC Scotland studios and the Radisson Hotel in Glasgow between January 2006 and December 2008, along with a sexually-related breach of the peace at an unnamed restaurant. Kohli is also accused of indecently assaulting a third woman and carrying out a sex act on her in June 2008. He faces further charges of repeatedly sexually assaulting a fourth woman at the University of Edinburgh in August 2011 and a fifth woman in December 2016. The latter charges include allegations of grabbing, kissing, and making sexual remarks to the woman in a Glasgow bar.
Kohli's defense advocate entered not guilty pleas on his behalf and lodged a special defense of consent for some charges. The trial is scheduled to begin on October 1, 2027, and is expected to last eight days. A further hearing is set for September. Kohli remains on bail. He is known for his past television appearances on shows like "The One Show," "Celebrity MasterChef," and "Newsnight Review," as well as hosting programs on BBC Radio 4.