Bruce Forsyth on politics, reality TV and leaving Strictly
"I was beginning to feel a bit stale. It’s an awful thing to feel as a performer, that you’re not enjoying it as much as you should do and you’re not giving as much as you could.”
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He does admit to having slowed down. “I do try to rest quite a bit these days. Mind you, I’ve been resting like this for a long time. If I’m tired or I’ve been working hard, I’ll go to bed at 4pm.”
And for the past 30 years he’s been wintering in Puerto Rico with his wife Wilnelia, the former Miss World he met when they were judging the competition in 1980.
When we meet, Brucie is wearing a dark blue shiny tracksuit and a baseball cap with a capital “B” in red. He won’t tell me whether he supports the Tory blue, but the general election is nestled between his second and third performances in early May and he’s likely to be watching closely. Last time round in 2010 he came back from Puerto Rico to watch events unfold on the BBC’s election boat on the Thames.
“I thought it would be so exciting, but it wasn’t exciting at all because you weren’t kept in touch with what was going on. They were just making a few announcements. I like elections when I can look at the screen and see how Scunthorpe and East Lewisham voted. I love to see that part of it. So it wasn’t worth the journey to come back and stand on a boat not knowing what was really going on.”
Bruce Forsyth with current Strictly Come Dancing hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly
He declines to reveal his own politics because, he says, “In the States you can be Democrat or Republican and everybody accepts that if you’re a showbusiness name. But it’s not accepted in the same way in England.”
He has met prime minister David Cameron. “He’s the most pleasant man. I’ve met him a few times now and I think he’s done a good job. Very difficult with the coalition. We don’t know half the things that they’ve had to decide and get together on.”
He thinks there should be a referendum on Europe. “Eventually there’s got to be,” he says. He sees arguments for and against membership. “Sometimes I think, ‘Oh yes, we’re better off in Europe.’ [But] I’m pleased we stayed out of the euro.” If there is a referendum, he’ll decide at the last minute and promises to phone me.
Immigration, he thinks, is an important issue. “It should benefit the country, whatever decision is made. It needs sorting out.”
As well as a 28-year-old son, Jonathan Joseph (JJ), with Wilnelia, Brucie has five daughters from his first two marriages, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. So where does he stand on inheritance tax?
L to R: Bruce with daughter Charlotte, wife Wilnelia, son JJ and daughter Laura at Buckingham Palace in 2011
“I think your inheritance should go to your children more than back to the country that you’ve lived in. I’m not saying you don’t owe the country something, of course you owe your country a lot for living there all those years. But I think it can be a bit over the top.”
He isn’t particularly religious, but he describes himself as a Christian. “There’s definitely someone or something there, although at times, when the dreadful things happen all round the world, it does make you think, ‘Is there a God?’”
Is he afraid of death?
“As I get nearer to it I fear it less because with the tiredness one gets at times, you think, ‘Is it just like having a nice long sleep?’ I wouldn’t say I fear it. I think I’ll be completely at peace when it does happen to me because I’ve been so lucky. I’ve had a wonderful career.”
After decades in the spotlight he is, in his own words, “Uncle Brucie” to most people in Britain. And he doesn’t think he’ll ever retire. “At the moment I’m feeling fine. I take every day as it comes. I’m living on borrowed time. I’ve been given this extra little bit in the twilight of my career, so enjoy it and keep doing what you want to do.”
Bruce Forsyth’s one man show is in Cardiff on 27th April, Norwich on 4th May and London on 10th May
