'A presenter on Strictly isn't the real Bruce' admits Sir Bruce Forsyth
HE MAY have fronted the show for a decade, but Sir Bruce Forsyth has admitted that he wasn't able to be himself on Strictly Come Dancing.
The 86-year-old star, who quit the BBC One show earlier this year, feels as though he has a lot more freedom now that he isn't tied to the ballroom.
"The world is my oyster," he said. "On the Generation Game, for example, I could have fun - I was allowed to be 'Loose Bruce'. I could do whatever I liked and interact with whomever.
"That's the real me. A presenter on Strictly isn't the real Bruce," he added.
However, Sir Bruce did make a guest appearance on a warm-up show for the new series in which the celebrity dancers of this series were paired off their professional partners.
On the Generation Game, for example, I could have fun - I was allowed to be 'Loose Bruce'. I could do whatever I liked and interact with whomever. That's the real me. A presenter on Strictly isn't the real Bruce
Speaking to Hello! magazine he revealed that saying goodbye was hard, even though it was his decision to leave.
"Part of me has to be sad because, when you work on something in television for ten years, you become a family and when you say goodbye to that family there is always a tear in the eye," he said.
"So it's hard to say goodbye, of course it is. But I'm leaving because, although I could hang on, I felt it was right not only for me but for the show."
He continued: "Now I have the relief that I don't have to do it any more. I would have hated to have carried on and then had to stop because I wasn't feeling well enough."