Bruce Forsyth furious at claims he is too old for Strictly Come Dancing

Bruce Forsyth furious at claims he is too old for Strictly Come Dancing

Sir Bruce Forsyth was left “furious” yesterday after hold-ups in the filming of Strictly Come Dancing were blamed on the veteran host being too old.

The 80-minute opening show, which aired on Saturday, took five hours to record, but insiders claim Brucie, 85, was only involved in around half of that. And a source said he only had the same number of pick-ups â€" where the presenter is asked to repeat a line â€" as co-host Tess Daly.

The insider said: “He is both furious and upset. It is completely unfair to suggest that the time taken was down to Bruce. He only did a couple of pick-ups. These take a few minutes at most.”

The programme started recording at around 6pm on Wednesday and finished at 11pm. Sir Bruce and Tess, 44, however, only took to the set at around 8.30pm, once songs by Jessie J a nd Rod Stewart were finished.

Bruce at work on the show

 

Sir Bruce was reported by media websites to have “struggled” to deliver lines from cue cards and been confused over stage ­direction because he was “clearly tired”.

But yesterday sources rubbished the claims, pointing out the show had a new studio. The insider said: “This was our first time in Elstree Studios, so other factors to consider were sound issues and camera positions.

“Every other Strictly show is live and our presenters have no difficulty. Bruce had no more pick-ups than Tess did and the music performances were recorded twice. This was all done to make the best possible show for the audience.”

Bruce has hosted the show since the beginning

 

A BBC spokeswoman said: “With any pre-recorded show there is the advantage of being able to do pick-ups to get the best out of a production. For example, the professional dancers’ group dance was filmed three times â€" more than any presenter was asked to repeat a line.”

At the filming, the contestants, including rugby ace Ben Cohen, actress Natalie Gumede and Bond Girl Fiona Fullerton, also performed a group dance ?at the end twice. And Jessie J ?had 80 dancers, five podiums and a band â€" and was said to have arrived late.

Sir Bruce has already decided to take one weekend off a month for a rest, with Claudia Winkleman replacing him on three dates.

Strictly returned for another series on Saturday

 

Last year former BBC1 controller Danny Cohen said: “Bruce is a living legend and an integral part of Strictly. He and only he will decide when it’s time to leave the ballroom.”

Yesterday it emerged Saturday’s show beat ITV’s The X Factor in the rivals’ first clash of 2013.BBC1’s Strictly drew an average audience of 8.4 million at 6.50pm, narrowly ahead of the 8.3 million who watched The X Factor at 8pm.

New BBC1 boss Charlotte Moore declared after the opening episode: “Strictly is back. A brilliant show launched the new series with Sir Bruce, Tess and the judges all on top form.”

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