Ken Bruce reveals the real reason he left Radio 2: Broadcasting Great says he hated being forced to play new music – and is still angry that the BBC bosses let him quit early to avoid he ‘swears’ colleagues on the air
- Ken Bruce attracted 8.3 million listeners until he left the BBC to compete in March
- Now he has revealed the real reason why he backed out of a job at Greatest Hits Radio
Former Radio 2 presenter Ken Bruce has spoken for the first time about the real reasons he left the channel. He said he disliked certain new music he had to play and was afraid of being seen as a “grumpy old man” by younger colleagues.
The veteran broadcaster attracted 8.3 million listeners to its BBC program until leaving in March to join commercial rival Greatest Hits Radio, where it has increased its mid-morning audience by more than 1.25 million. Meanwhile, his old Radio 2 slot, now filled by Vernon Kay, lost 1.4 million listeners in its first three months without him.
Previously, the 72-year-old said he left the BBC after working the same way for three decades because it was “time for a change” and it felt “like the natural culmination of some planning that I’ve been doing”.
But now he’s revealed that he decided to jump ship before he started to get “bitter and entrenched,” saying, “It’s taken a long time and I thought I was doing the same thing every day.
Previously, the 72-year-old said he left the BBC in the same slot after three decades because it was ‘time for a change’
Ken Bruce said he was afraid he would be seen as a “grumpy old man.” Pictured is a portrait of radio presenter Ken Bruce in the studio, photographed for Radio Times in January 1984
“There was a point of saying that I can’t be as excited about all the new music I have to play as I am about the old music. And I didn’t want to get on stage misrepresenting (or pretending to like) some of the music.”
The father of six explains: ‘I definitely thought I had something more to offer. I didn’t want to go back and do the same show for the next three or four years, but everyone around me was getting younger and thinking, “Am I the old dude in the corner here?”
“I was the youngster at the station and almost overnight I became the veteran, and I didn’t want to become the old grump in the corner saying ‘things aren’t what they used to be’, or (to ) a newcomer. idea say, “No, we tried that, it didn’t work”, which is what happens. I just felt like I was going to get more bitter and deeper.”
Bruce said the switch to Greatest Hits Radio had revived him, emphasizing, “I feel like it rejuvenated me to a degree. I loved working for the BBC. I think it’s a great institution. But maybe over the last few years I can’t be blamed for just trying something different.’
His comments will appear in an upcoming episode of Gyles Brandreth’s podcast series Rosebud, which began Friday. Bruce also told Brandreth that he never sees himself retiring and intends to continue broadcasting until he is physically unable or fired.
Radio legend Ken Bruce said the move to Greatest Hits Radio had given him a new lease of life
Undated handout image issued by Greatest Hits Radio of Ken Bruce’s Secret 60s, playing the decade’s “most iconic songs and legendary singers”
His departure from the BBC ended somewhat sour after he was asked to leave before the end of his contract, reportedly because bosses feared he would use his time on the air as ‘free advertising’ for his new rival show.
He said he found the decision “disappointing” and added, “I was like, ‘Come on, you can trust me, I’m not going to do Dave Lee Travis (and) start badmouthing everyone'” because I’m having a good time had at the BBC. So it was all a bit… unnecessary. It is entirely within the right of the BBC to ask me to leave a little early. But because of those seventeen days it seems a waste.’
Travis left Radio 1 when he was on the air in 1993, making critical comments about changes to the channel.
But Bruce harbors no lasting ill feelings towards his old employer, who call the BBC ‘the best broadcaster in the world’.
His program on Greatest Hits Radio, owned by media giant Bauer, runs weekdays from 10am to 1pm and includes the PopMaster quiz he created for his Radio 2 show. It was also recently adapted for TV by Channel 4.