Ken Bruce: BBC wanted me to leave Radio 2 earlier than I planned

Vernon Kay will take over the mid-morning show in May
Ken Bruce will join Greatest Hits Radio later this year (Bauer Media Group/PA)
PA Media
Pa Reporters25 February 2023
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Ken Bruce has said he is “a little surprised and disappointed” that his final BBC Radio 2 show will be as early as next week.

Vernon Kay will take over in May following the announcement last month that Scottish broadcasting veteran Bruce would be stepping down from presenting his mid-morning show on Radio 2 after 31 years.

The BBC confirmed that Bruce will present his final 9.30am to midday show on March 3.

Gary Davies, host of the station’s Sounds Of The 80s show, will host the show from March 6 until Kay takes over.

On Friday, Bruce said he had intended to fulfil his contract at Radio 2 which was due to run out at the end of March, but that the BBC had “decided it wants me to leave earlier”.

“I will be presenting my last show on Radio 2 next Friday,” he tweeted.

“I had intended fulfilling my contract until the end of March but the BBC has decided it wants me to leave earlier. Let’s enjoy the week ahead!”

Bruce also told the Daily Mail newspaper: “I was called in at 12.30 and told that my final show would be a week today and wasn’t given any real reason that I understood.

“I’m a little surprised and disappointed.”

Bruce announced he was leaving the BBC in January before confirming he would be moving to Bauer’s Greatest Hits Radio in April to present a new mid-morning show from 10am to 1pm.

The radio DJ, who started at the BBC in his early 30s, said he would “always be proud” of his association with the BBC and Radio 2, but that he wanted to continue his career “in a slightly different way in the next few years”.

Bruce first joined the corporation in 1977 as a BBC Radio Scotland presenter and his first regular slot on Radio 2 was the Saturday Late Show in 1984. The following year he fronted the Radio 2 Breakfast Show, taking over from Sir Terry Wogan.

He later moved to mid-mornings in 1986 and after a brief stint on late nights and early mornings, returned to mid-mornings in January 1992.

Bruce has also presented Radio 2’s coverage of Eurovision since 1988, and has been a regular presenter of Sunday Night Is Music Night.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in