I was very sad but not surprised to read how hurt Bruce Forsyth is by the criticisms of his performance on this year's show.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/strictly...criticism.html

I think it's doubly sad that it looks like he will not get the knightood he thoroughly deserves this year, either, which must feel quite humiliating after the huge campaign to make it happen.

I hope Bruce will not be deterred by the minority of people who use the message boards to make cheap and sometimes spiteful remarks which are built into 'stories' by journalists with nothing better to fill their acres of space. It all seems to me so typical of that British characteristic of killing off something good and successful

I for one will be very sad if Bruce doesn't come back for another series in 2009. Please sign below if you agree...

sorry - I cant sign.................

its quite a mystery why he has not recieved a knighthood yet when there have been presenters and personalities who have done less who have. My gran at christmas said that sometimes its something to do with your past that if it came to be public knowledge would then look bad if he had been knighted. But he's gotten other royal awards so i dunno.... Maybe they just don't like him.

He may well get a knighthood after he retires.

I adore Brucie, but the longer he stays on the more difficult it's going to be for him. If he plans on staying until he is pushed, he could end up being remembered less fondly than if he leaves now on a semi-high.

He can always come back to present the christmas, sports relief and CiN specials.

I'll happily sign a petition for Anton to take over whenever Brucie leaves, if someone starts one...

I am not 'anti' Bruce as such, he has done many things over the years that I have enjoyed including the first 4/5 series of SCD. This series was one too many, he has definately lost his edge but I think he is frightened to let go.

I think he does deserve a knighthood, if Wogan can get one than Bruce surely can. I can only think he has seriously upset someone in higher places, because if they delay it much longer he might just die before he gets one and I think that would be a shame.

I'll sign without hesitation! Bruce is an essential ingredient for me. I agree he should definitely get that knighthood too.

Mabye we shouldn't have knighthoods - that way everyone is judged the same. The honours system is an antiquated concept.

Bruce doesn't need a knighthood to validate his services to light entertainment. His record speaks for itself.

Calling someone sir in front of their name - what a load of nonsense! Really, we're in the 21st century, folks! Time to move on.

I think perhaps Bruce should retire from presenting SCD - I agree with what has been said about coming back for one-off specials etc. I don't agree with Anton becoming the presenter but that's another thread !

I find it unbelievable he has not been knighted. I have heard on the grapevine that Chris Hoy (the Olympic cyclist) has received a knighthood - this of course has not been verified but I wouldn't be surprised. I'm sure he did very well to gain three gold medal but hey Brucie's career spans 60 years. I cannot think of something he may have done to upset the powers that be, he did part with a couple of wives over the years but that's nothing new in the Royal Family is it?

Id rather have Bruce or Anton than that stupid graham norton,
totally unfunny, dosent have a clue about the world of dance, and would not fit in at all..

Please do quit, Bruce. Leave the honour to yourself and go out on a reasonable high.

It's getting embarrassing now, previous series 75% was funny, 25% embarrassing, but the balance is shifting... Unfortunately.

Do the specials, but let someone else do the hard weekly graft.

Graham Norton is lovely. I was in bootcamp on Strictly Dance Fever and he's very warm and funny.

Not suited to Strictly, I agree, but don't diss the Norton :P

Well said. Graham Norton gets a lot of flack on this forum, personally I think he'd be a good host for SCD, he was fine on Dance Fever and the I'd Do Anything type shows.

How does Bruce DESERVE a knighthood? Can someone please explain!

We have soldiers giving their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan; people who spend their lives working with the poor, sick and dying.

I fail to understand how being an entertainer can qualify anyone for a knighthood.

Oh....DO quit, Brucie!!!

The people you mention do qualify for and receive honours. We are more aware of those who receive honours who are in the public eye for obvious reasons.

I don't think there is anything wrong with honouring someone who has spent a career entertaining the public - it all adds to people's lives.

Sometimes the more you let it be known you WANT an honour - the less likely you are to receive one!!

Brucie is already a CBE which is the level immediately below the knight/ dame one, and has one of the lower awards as well - why should he get a third honour for basically the same thing?

At the end of the day he has done nothing more than the job he was well paid for doing, so why does he deserve an honour more than anyone else. Yes he has been around for over 60 years but that in itself is not a reason for a knighthood.

Chris Hoy has achieved something no other Briton has managed - and beaten the rest of the world's best in 3 separate events at the Olympics. Kelly Holmes achieved a double gold medal and Tanni Grey Thompson over 12. Steve Redgrave & Matthew Pinsent achieved their medals over 4 -5 separate Olympic Games, and the other showbiz honours quite often have charitable works taken into account. Most of the sports people only get theirs once they retire as well.

The point I was trying to make is that Bruce has not sought the knighthood, other have been seeking it for him but he is left with egg on the face at the end of the day.

I notice that even an attempt to start a positive thread in support of him by and large attracts the same old cynicism. How sad.

Although I might agree with you, but Bruce is from a different generation and it would mean a lot to him I am sure.


People get awarded honours for many different things, and services to entertainment is one of them. Soldiers and other service men and women get medals for their bravery. and people who dedicate their lives to others such as the sick and dying DO often get honours but if they are not in the 'public' eye you may not know. The Queen Honours List is FULL of 'ordinary' men and women.

Totally agree - I've always loved Brucie in most things he has done over the years but it is far better to go out gracefully than to carry on getting worse and worse. His song and dance routine was poor last year, this year's was embarassing.
Brucie please retire while you are still loved.

There is diversity of opinion in the forum over Bruce, not disagreement wheeled out specially to turn a thread negative. Most who are currently critical will acknowledge that at his best Bruce was good. A knighthood is in the gift of the Prime Minister advised by the Honours Committee, but I doubt if Brucie will value a knighthood as much as the level of his performance as critically rated by himself.

Strictly has quickly grown into the most watched TV programme on this planet, and there would be no point replacing Brucie with someone worse. Assuming the job spec requires a well-liked mature male with mass appeal able to carry a lighthearted glamour show, many possible candidates will have the same issue as Bruce, namely age.

Roger Moore is 81, Sean Connery 78, Michael Aspel 75, Albert Finney 72........ How about Jeremy Irons though, a stripling at age 60?

Anton would be bringing his private dance axe to grind and splitting the dance world, while Graham Norton's campness will antagonise many viewers. I believe it would be no bad thing to bring in someone from outside the dance world, as host of light entertainment pleasant and impartial to all.

I enjoy Brucies dodderiness; I think he is fantastic for a man of his years and still has the power to make me laugh. If I'm not mistaken, I've read somewhere that it's his choice to retire, However, as it's only a few weeks out of a year I'll sign in the hope that he may be persuaded to change his mind

Vincy82 willingly signing. Stay a while longer Brucie. and Queenie should get her finger out and arrange for that gong anytime soon.

I want Brucie to stay the show wont be the same without him. If Graham Norton takes over I simply wont watch cant stand the chap

But Bruce has already been awarded an honour - a CBE.
Surely that is enough.

Yes he has entertained a lot of people for a long time. I have been around long enough to remember 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium'. I don't want to knock the bloke but I do think he should retire gracefully before he loses all dignity. Sometimes I feel he is embarrassing himself.

I think it's a real shame that so many older faces on tv are being retired. I've tried to think of others in the 60 -ish bracket of entertainers and I'm struggling to be honest.

Doesn't he only work like one day a week reading an autocue?