Strictly Come Dancing 2010

I can see your point, I never though in a million years STV would put it up on the "MOST Poplar" screen on the stv news break...

It will be a lesser show if Forsyth does leave.

You think? I hate to say he's "past it" but after watching the final and his awful jokes *raising arms to get reaction*. it's got to go to another host I'm afraid.

I honestly think he makes the show. Without him it's just a load of people dancing which personally wouldn't interest me all that much. It's refreshing to see someone presenting in a different way to what has now become the norm. It probably helps that he isn't reduced to begging for votes like most presenters on this kind of show are too.

Do you honestly think Strictly Come Dancing would have lasted this long if it was presented by Tess Daly alone?

Forgetting the source of this story for a moment, does anyone else get the impression it could be true?

I think that there is something in what you say. Brucie is a long standing, popular, saturday night entertainer - and he is still amazing live. The reason he often looks like he's missed a cue is that he's been doing keeping the audience interested between studio bits.

[Tess Daly] presides over the jewel in the BBC's crown, and has perhaps the hardest job in telly: keeping Brucie in check while laughing at his jokes. Surely that's terrifying in itself? If the rest of us spend every show wondering if he's going to stumble over the autocue, what must Tess - grinning at his side - be thinking?

She won't hear of dissing Brucie, but does offer an intriguing explanation as to why it might seem that she is in charge. 'Brucie is brilliant, but he's part of the old school - that generation of TV entertainers who don't wear earpieces. They're used to responding to hand signals from the floor manager. They get all their timings from physical signs. But timing is everything on live TV - hence the need for earpieces. You have to stick to your schedule, come hell or high water, and that sort of direction comes from the gallery. I'm the one who wears the earpiece - so they all yell at me, then I have to chivvy Bruce along.'

Crikey. That must be rather difficult, particularly when he is in mid-joke. 'Yeah, well, not really, no,' she says, not particularly convincingly. 'It does give me a lot of responsibility, but I enjoy that, in a way. I enjoy the thrill of keeping it all in, bringing the conversation back and delivering my lines on time, as it has to be. We actually have a great system, Brucie and me. I sort of do my bit, he does his bit - wonderfully - and when I'm being shouted at by the gallery to get on with it, I tap him on the back, and the taps get more insistent, to the point where I am thumping him. Literally. He doesn't mind, though. He puts up with me.'

I think that there is something in what you say. Brucie is a long standing, popular, saturday night entertainer - and he is still amazing live . The reason he often looks like he's missed a cue is that he's been doing keeping the audience interested between studio bits.

Can you think of many respected presenters with a dancing background?

And frankly he's 82 - why is retirement such a dirty word in showbiz?

Although I believe perfectly legal from the age of 65 - at the moment at least. I do agree though that this should be and indeed will be Brucie's call - but assuming they make the right choice when the time does come to replace him (i.e. Not Anton du Beke!) I'm sure the show would survive without him.