I've seen nothing about it

Lets hope so, a homecoming is always filled with excitement

Hmm..

It might be "care-homecoming."

Is there any news yet? I've heard rumours of him taking 4 weeks off but has it been confirmed yet?

4 months would do him so much more good.

I hope Bruce is back. Claudia mumbles and tries hard to be funny. At least Bruce knows his jokes fall flat and the audience goes with it

I think he deserves at least a 6 week break in the sunshine to make sure he recovers properly

I hope he is getting better but I do hope he's not back on Saturday.

Ditto.

Sadly, according to the Daily Express on line today, he's back on Saturday "having shaken off the flu". Which means he's got over his cold. B***er!

Oh no! Last week was the best show for a long time (well since the last time he was off). Now I'll have to go back to recording and fast forwarding through half the show. No doubt there wont be time for some of the judges' comments either. Tess did well to get through 15 contestants and include all the judges' comments for each one.

Tess said he would be back this week on last week's show but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Anyway, he'll only be back a week before he is off for a week so at least that's something to look forward to!

I look forward to Sir Bruce's return

Well, if he has had "proper flu" and not just a bad cold then no, he won't be back this week. Someone of his age (and I mean no offence by this) would take longer than a week to get over "proper flu". If however, he just had a bad cold and the Beeb just wanted to make it sound more dramatic, then sadly yes he will be back.

My guess is he had a cold. My guess is also that a lot of people on here (and out there in the real world) will have to give their FF button a hammering once more on Saturday

EDIT - just saw your post Janet

So yeah, it was all for dramatic effect...I thought it was suspect when Tess said he would be back next week.

I didn't know but you're a mine of information about Brucie so it'll be good to see him back on Saturday. Thanks for posting.

No doubt at the start of the show, some idiot will announce (for effect and "adoration" of a well-primed sycophantic audience who hope to get tickets for further shows), Bruce's return as if it were "the second coming."

I hope we don't have to suffer this every time he has a week off.

Ugh, what a horrible thought.

Plus we'll have Terry bumping up every thread he's ever made about BF...everlasting joy

I'm pleased to hear he's getting better, I do like Brucie - particularly his adlibs. I have to admit though I did enjoy last weeks show which was so much smoother. It's amazing how well the girls did to keep such a packed couple of hours running along so easily. I have to agree with Caramel Crunch and say I'm glad he's better but hope he's not coming back yet. If he's due to have next week off anyway it would make more sense to wait until week 5 to come back. Even then I think they should find a way for him to maybe just open and close the show and leave the rest to Tess and Claudia.

I really hope he does.

Brucie makes me worried though whenever it says he has the flu because next thing you know with stars that age......

Anyway hope he does well.

He didn't have the flu though. That was all for dramatic effect and sympathy. At worst I bet he's a had a bit of a cold...

He can't have had flu to be over it so quickly. Maybe he had a slight 'cold' which, of course, at his age can be a course for concern.

Hope Brucie if fighting fit and ready to come back, just so the bashers can make yet another thread to claw away at the elderly gentleman's shortcomings, which they need to do, I know, as I've been watching them at it for ten long years.

I know.
I'm all heart xxx

I don't think he had flu. It's a handy excuse - I don't think they say 'flu' for dramatic effect or sympathy - I think that two live shows in succession proved too much and he just couldn't do the next one. It's probably age - if it had been flu at 85, he'd be zonked out for ever.

If I'm right, and he was simply worn out, then this might be his last year because, being a pro, he won't want to hold up the series, no matter how much he loves the limelight.

I freely admit that Bruce Forsyth is a legend and that the initial success of Strictly probably had a lot to do with it being hosted by Mr Saturday Night Entertainment. However, there comes a time when even legends need to retire. Hosting Strictly is wearing him out, he's fluffing the autocue and he's making more and more mistakes. Wouldn't it be better for him to leave graciously while he's still at the top and there's a certain amount of fondness for him, rather than waiting to be pushed because he's become too much of an embarrassment? Frankly, even if he hadn't become ill, it's debatable whether he could have coped with last week's marathon show, which had all 15 couples dancing on the one night. It's not a matter of hating, it's about being realistic.

He didn't have 'flu - if he did he wouldn't be in any state to come back.

Even a young fit person would struggle to shake off REAl flu for at least a fortnight! and maybe even longer! it's a horrible debilitating illness and once you have had the real thing - you will never mistake a bad cold for it ever again.

If he's back on Saturday all it means is that the old codger had a case of the sniffles - nothing more serious. If it WAS flu he'd be asking for trouble coming back so soon at his age!