KEN Bruce has revealed the real reason he left BBC Radio 2 after three decades at the station.
The veteran broadcaster was attracting 8.3 million listeners to his morning show until he made the decision to leave for rival station Greatest Hits Radio.
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Ken Bruce has spoken openly about the reason he left BBC Radio 2Credit: PA
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Ken left BBC Radio 2 earlier this yearCredit: Rex
When Ken announced his departure earlier this year, he claimed he felt it was “time for a change”, and it felt like “a natural culmination of some planning I’ve been doing”.
But now he has revealed the real reason he decided to abandon ship before he started to become “embittered and entrenched”.
Speaking to Gyles Brandreth for his new podcast series Rosebud, 72-year-old Ken said: “It made sense to say that I can’t get excited about the new music that I have to play as much as I could because of the old music.
“And I didn’t want to get to the stage where I was swearing at some of the music [or] pretending to like her.”
He explained: “I certainly thought I had something more to offer.
“I didn’t want to give up for the next three or four years and keep doing the same show, but everyone around me is getting younger and thinking, ‘Am I the old guy in the corner?’
‘” I was a young man at the station, and then almost overnight I became a veteran, and I didn’t want to become an old grump in the corner saying “things aren’t what they used to be”, or [to] every new idea says, “No, we tried that, it didn’t work,” which happens.
“I just felt like I was going to get even more bitter and entrenched.”
Bruce also spoke about how his move to Greatest Hits Radio gave him a new lease of life.
“I feel it has rejuvenated me to a certain extent. I loved working for the BBC,” he said. “I think it’s a great institution. But maybe the last few years I can’t be blamed for just trying something else.”
His departure from the BBC did not end smoothly after bosses asked him to leave before the end of his contract amid fears he was using his remaining airtime to promote his new show.
He said he found the decision “disappointing”, adding: “I thought, ‘Come on, you can trust me, I’m not going to do Dave Lee Travis [and] start badmouthing everyone”, because I had a great time at the BBC. So it was all a bit… unnecessary.
“It’s perfectly within the BBC’s right to ask me to leave a bit early. But for 17 days, it seems a shame.”
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Bruce joined Global Radio following his departure from BBC Radio 2 Credits: PA
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