Ken Bruce | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Bruce presenting BBCProms in the Park in 2006 | |
| Born | Kenneth Robertson Bruce (1951-02-02)2 February 1951 (age 74) Giffnock, Scotland |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 6 |
| Career | |
| Show | Weekday mid-mornings (1986–1990, 1992–present) |
| Station(s) | BBC Radio 2 (1984–2023, previously a stand in presenter, 1980–83) Greatest Hits Radio (2023–present) |
| Time slot | 9:30 am – 11:00 am (1986–1990) 9:30 am – 11:30 am (1992–1998) 9:30 am – 12:00 pm (1998–2023) 10:00 am – 1:00 pm (2023–present) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
Kenneth Robertson Bruce (born 2 February 1951) is a Scottishradio andtelevision presenter. He hosted a weekday mid-morning show onBBC Radio 2 between 1986 and 1990, then again from 1992 to 2023. Since April 2023, he has presented the same slot onGreatest Hits Radio.[1] In the2023 Birthday Honours, Bruce was appointed aMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to radio, to autism awareness and to charity.[2]
Since 2023, Bruce has presented a television adaptation of his radio quizPopMaster entitledPopMaster TV onChannel 4.[3]
Bruce was born and raised inGiffnock, nearGlasgow, and from the age of nine, he attendedHutchesons' Boys' Grammar School before training and working as a chartered accountant for a couple of years.[4][5] His next job was washing cars, following which he began his broadcasting career with the Hospital Broadcasting Service in Glasgow in the early 1970s.[6]
In 1977, Bruce became a staff announcer for BBC Radio 4 Scotland and a TV continuity announcer forBBC One Scotland andBBC Two Scotland.[7] Following the launch ofBBC Radio Scotland in November 1978, he became one of the original presenters ofNightbeat, alongside Iain Purdon.Charles Nove subsequently joined the presentation rota. He also presented a Saturday morning show.
In 1980, he took on the mid-morning slot and then, in 1983, he presented a daily afternoon entertainment show.[8] He hosted his mid-morning show on theBBC World Service in the late 1980s.
Bruce's first broadcasts were from Scotland when he took over the presentation ofRadio 2 Ballroom from Scotland after the death of Radio Scotland's announcer/presenter of Scottish Dance Music programmes, David Findlay. He presentedRadio 2 Ballroom programmes regularly from November 1980 until 1982. He became astand-in presenter onRadio 2, mainly covering forRay Moore on theEarly show. Bruce also presented shows for Radio Scotland fromLondon. Bruce became a regular presenter for Radio 2 in January 1984 when he assumed hosting duties for the Saturday late night show in addition to his continuing show on Radio Scotland.
In January 1985, Bruce left Radio Scotland and took over fromTerry Wogan onThe Radio 2 Breakfast Show, being replaced himself byDerek Jameson in April 1986. He then began his first stint on the mid-morning show which lasted until the end of March 1990, when he took over the late show until the end of that year. He then hosted the early show throughout 1991, and on 6 January 1992 he returned to the mid-morning slot.[9] While Bruce was on holiday in August 2007,Davina McCall sat in for him. This attracted more than 150 complaints from listeners.[10]
During his show on 21 April 2008, theatre producerBill Kenwright told Bruce thatElvis Presley once visitedLondon in 1958, and was taken on a tour of the city byTommy Steele.[11][12][13] Presley in fact never visited England in his lifetime and the claim caused considerable controversy.[14]
In December 2008, a crew of fishermen listeners were inadvertently relaying the show to every ship and coastguard station for miles around. It was not possible to contact the vessel, so a request was made to Bruce, who duly said: "If you are on a ship near the Small rocks, please turn me off."[15] OnApril Fools' Day 2011, Bruce's radio show was presented by comedianRob Brydon impersonating Bruce throughout. Brydon interviewed "SirTerry Wogan" (impersonated byPeter Serafinowicz), and Bruce himself appeared at the end of the show as his "brother Kenn with two Ns".[16][17]
As a result of restrictions imposed due to Covid-19, from 23 March 2020 to 31 May 2021, Bruce self-isolated and presented his show from home. He has spoken aboutremote work to the BBC website, saying: "We get a lot more people just asking for a simple hello or a mention for relatives just because they are not seeing them as much as they could. Particularly working from home, I sympathise with that, because there are lots of people I'm not seeing. We are all kind of feeling we are in this together, so it has brought broadcaster and listener rather closer together. It has made us have to be a little bit more creative with what we include in the programme. We do a lot more saying thank you to people who are keeping our essentials services going, and we are also giving people ideas of things to do while they are in lockdown".[18] Bruce returned to broadcasting from Wogan House in June 2021.[18][19]
Bruce announced on 17 January 2023 that he would be leaving BBC Radio 2 in March of that year to pursue other opportunities outside the BBC, including hosting a new mid-morning show forGreatest Hits Radio, replacingMark Goodier (who then moved to weekends).[20] Bruce presented his final Radio 2 show on 3 March. His final track played was "Golden Slumbers"/"Carry That Weight"/"The End" bythe Beatles.[21][22]
Bruce's show emphasises music, and on Radio 2 he included regular live performances. Competitions have usually been music-based, with alove song and dedications feature at 10:15 am on the previous Radio 2 show. Other regular features previously included theRecord of the Week and theAlbum of the Week[23] and theTracks of My Years, where a celebrity picked two songs each day for their particular meaning.The Love Song was previously played at 10:15 am each day, preceded by dedications, although a number of songs in the rotation are not romantic love songs.
The show also includes a daily quiz,PopMaster. It previously included other competitions such asSpin It to Win It andWords Don't Come Easily, although these were dropped in 2007 following thephone-in scandal.PopMaster returned in early 2008, although the other competitions did not.
The comedian and impressionistRob Brydon, who is noted for his mimicry of Bruce, sat in for him on 25 August 2008 and again as anApril fool prank in 2011 when Brydon impersonated Bruce throughout.[24]
PopMaster has run as a feature of Bruce's show since 16 February 1998. With questions set by music expertPhil Swern, it offers asmart speaker for successfully completing the Three-in-Ten bonus round. If the listener fails, they are awarded a set of Bluetooth headphones (replacing the previous consolation prizes of a Bluetooth speaker, and before that an MP3 player). An earlier consolation prize, a "Space" radio, has been known to appear oneBay, to Bruce's amusement. The losing contestant is given a T-shirt with "One Year Out" printed across the front (a catchphrase Bruce uses in the quiz when a contestant trying to place the year a song was in the charts is out by one year). This consolation prize replaced a CD wallet as of 27 February 2012.
The public phone-in PopMaster quiz was suspended after airing on 18 July 2007. A celebrity version was introduced on 20 July and continued until 18 January 2008. "Three-in-Ten" was not held in the celebrity version and there was no tie breaker in the event of a draw. It was rumoured that members of the public would be able to play again before Christmas 2007 but this did not happen.[25][26] Following an announcement by Bruce on 7 January 2008, the regular format returned on 21 January.[27] The game returned with new dramatic, orchestral and guitar-based jingles.
Bruce himself was aPopMaster contestant during his show on 17 May 2013, when he took part in a specialEurovision edition of the quiz, live fromMalmö, Sweden. Bruce competed againstPaddy O'Connell, withJohn Kennedy O'Connor chairing the quiz.[citation needed]
On 3 April 2023, Bruce began broadcasting onGreatest Hits Radio with his first song being "Come Together" byThe Beatles.[28] The show now runs weekdays 10am - 1pm and includes PopMaster at 10.30.
Bruce presented BBCProms in the Park for many years.[29] From 1988 to 2022, he was Radio 2's commentator for theEurovision Song Contest, having taken over from fellow broadcaster and friendRay Moore. In 1998, he shared this role with being UK spokesman for that year's contest, reading out the points for the UK telephone vote, taking it over fromColin Berry, who then returned the following year.[30] He presented the Eurovision Song Contest Previews from 1989 to 1991 onBBC1. He was a regular presenter of the long-runningFriday Night is Music Night.[31]
He has occasionally made appearances in "Dictionary Corner" onChannel 4'sCountdown, the most recent stint being during the week of 11 February 2013.[32] When the original presenterRichard Whiteley died in 2005, Bruce said: "[he was] such a nice man – that was the defining quality of him, a genuinely nice man. And he had no real ego."[33]
In November 2007, he appeared on aNever Mind the Buzzcocks special forChildren in Need.[34] Bruce holds aPCV (Passenger Carrying Vehicle) driving licence and is the co-owner of a number ofAEC Routemaster buses withCharles Nove,Alan Dedicoat andSteve Madden. He has referred to the buses as "a fantastic piece of engineering and such fun to have".[35] On 3 March 2008, Bruce took part inReady, Steady, Cook, broadcast onBBC Two, withLynn Bowles.[36]
On 30 December 2012, Bruce won an edition ofCelebrity Mastermind, with his specialist subject being theJeeves novels ofP.G. Wodehouse. In 2014, Bruce narrated theBBC One game showReflex. He appeared in celebrity episodes ofThe Chase on 4 October 2014 and 12 December 2021.[37] Bruce featured with his son Charlie on the fifth series ofBig Star's Little Star and in October 2018, he made a cameo appearance onHollyoaks.[38]
In 2022, Bruce was interviewed for the BBC One documentaryFarming England: Farming on the Spectrum – Oxfordshire, in which he spoke about Pennyhooks Farm and his then-18-year-old son Murray, who was one of several non-verbal people working on the care farm.[39] In February 2023, Bruce appeared with Murray in the first part of aBBC Two documentary series, presented byChris Packham, titledInside Our Autistic Minds.[40][41]
On 27 June 2023, Bruce narrated the one-off More4 documentarySounds Like the 80s. In the spring of 2023 Bruce presented six episodes of PopMaster TV onMore4 with a repeat onChannel 4. A second series began on 13 May 2024.
In December 2008, Bruce was inducted into the Radio Academy Hall of Fame.[42]
In September 2018, Bruce became the patron ofStoke Mandeville Hospital Radio, replacing former mayor of Aylesbury and long-standing patron and co-founder of the station, Freda Roberts. Bruce said: "Hospital Radio continues to thrive and I am delighted to take on the role of patron."[43][44]
Bruce married Kerith Coldham in September 2000, with whom he has two sons and one daughter, he also has two sons from his first marriage and a daughter from his second.[45][46] His youngest child Charlie Bruce was born in February 2008.[47] He lives inTowersey, nearThame,Oxfordshire.[48][49][50] One of his sons, Murray, is autistic[51] and Bruce is an active campaigner forautism charities.[52][53]
Bruce'sautobiography was published on 4 September 2009, titledThe Tracks of My Years: The Autobiography.[54]
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| Preceded by | BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show Presenter 1985–1986 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Eurovision Song ContestUK radio commentator 1988–2022 | Succeeded by |
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