I'm still a great believer in the BBC...even though they axed me after 46 years

Ken Bruce's remarkable sanguinity towards his former employer might have something to do with the two million loyal listeners who've followed him to his new berth at Greatest Hits Radio. The broadcasting legend talks avoiding bitterness, being a perennial outsider and why an MBE has afforded some long-awaited recognition

- Nick McGrath

WITH his understated Glaswegian brogue and jocular delivery, Ken Bruce was a central part of the BBC's fabric from the day he joined Radio 4 Scotland as a staff announcer in 1977, to the moment he was unceremoniously ushered out of Broadcasting House for the final time on March 3, 2023.

Despite attracting 8.7 million listeners with his genial mid-morning show -1.2 million more than his more celebrated Radio 2 colleague Zoe Ball attracted to her breakfast show and, at that time, the largest audience on British radio - BBC bosses opted not to renew the amiable septuagenarian's contract. It left him with little alternative but to nurse his bruised ego and jump ship to rival commercial station, Greatest Hits Radio.

His departure ended on a slightly sour note after he was asked to leave before the end of his contract, reportedly because bosses feared he was using his time on air as "free advertising" for his new rival show.

But a year later, with nearly two million of his loyal listeners having followed him and his trademarked PopMaster contest to his new home and the second series of the television version of his legendary music quiz due to return to More4 on Monday - it's clear he couldn't be happier.

So, 13 months on, how does the buoyant 73-year-old, who took over from Terry Wogan on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show in 1985, before assuming his customary midmorning slot on the station in 1990, reflect on his much-debated exit?

"Well, all in all, I was at the BBC for 46 years, mostly doing the same thing and, yes, you do become institutionalised, but I'm a great believer in the BBC," he says, gamely. "I think it's a terrific organisation and we would be much poorer culturally in this country without it, but nobody needs to stay in the same place for 40-odd years."