Bruce Forsyth brutally declared about Strictly judge: ‘You have to get him away from me’

Strictly Come Dancing legend Bruce Forsyth brutally told one judge to ‘get away from him’ during the first series of the show.

Best known for his 75-year career in television, Sir Bruce was the original host of Strictly before he passed away in 2017 at the age of 89.

However, despite being considered a national treasure, it appears not everything was sunshine and roses on the flagship BBC dance competition.

Speaking to hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard on ITV’s This Morning, current Strictly judges Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood discussed the show’s dramatic new changes.

Speaking about Bruce, Anton said: ‘A lot of people won’t know this, but on the very first series of Strictly Come Dancing he [Craig] was up the end where I sit.

‘He was up Brucey’s end. Brucey went, “you have to get him away from me”, and they moved him down the other end.’

Bursting into laughter, Ben asked Anton whether it was because he was ‘so mean’, to which he nodded.

Explaining Sir Bruce’s comments, Craig added: ‘Brucey said I don’t want him [Craig] on the end because I’m going to go down the line and we can’t end on a negative.’

Anton then summed it up by explaining: ‘So literally Brucey moved Craig to where he is now.’

Anton and Craig are joined by Shirley Ballas, the head judge, and Motsi Mabuse on Strictly’s judging panel.

This year’s series has seen dramatic change already following the departure of hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, who have been replaced by three new hosts in broadcaster Emma Willis, comedian Josh Widdicombe, and pro dancer Johannes Radebe.

The pro dancer line-up has also undergone significant change with fan favourites Nadiya Bychkova, Luba Mushtuk, Karen Hauer, Michelle Tsiakkas and Gorka Márquez having departed, while Neil Jones and Nancy Xu will be ‘benched’ and won’t have a partner.

Last week, EastEnders icon Lacey Turner was confirmed to be the first star joining the line-up for Strictly.

This came before Dani Dyer was confirmed to be officially returning after being forced to drop out of the competition last year due to injury.

The third contestant was then announced to be Aussie icon Delta Goodrem, who just competed in Eurovision.

The 41-year-old finished fourth at the Eurovision Song Contest last month with her song Eclipse.

Strictly Come Dancing 2026 will return in September this year.

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