Ken Bruce

Kenneth Robertson Bruce MBE (born 2 February 1951) is a Scottish radio and television presenter.

[1] In the 2023 Birthday Honours, Bruce was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to radio, to autism awareness and to charity.

[3] Bruce was born and raised in Glasgow where he attended Hutchesons' Boys' Grammar School before training and working as a chartered accountant for a couple of years.

[5] Following the launch of BBC Radio Scotland in November 1978, he became one of the original presenters of Nightbeat, alongside Iain Purdon.

[8] During his show on 21 April 2008, theatre producer Bill Kenwright told Bruce that Elvis Presley once visited London in 1958, and was taken on a tour of the city by Tommy Steele.

[12] In December 2008, a crew of fishermen listeners were inadvertently relaying the show to every ship and coastguard station for miles around.

Brydon interviewed "Sir Terry Wogan" (impersonated by Peter Serafinowicz), and Bruce himself appeared at the end of the show as his "brother Kenn with two Ns".

[14][15] As a result of restrictions imposed due to Covid-19, from 23 March 2020 to 31 May 2021, Bruce self-isolated and presented his show from home.

He has spoken about remote work to the BBC website, saying: "We get a lot more people just asking for a simple hello or a mention for relatives just because they are not seeing them as much as they could.

It previously included other competitions such as Spin It to Win It and Words Don't Come Easily, although these were dropped in 2007 following the phone-in scandal.

With questions set by music expert Phil Swern, it offers a smart speaker for successfully completing the Three-in-Ten bonus round.

Bruce himself was a PopMaster contestant during his show on 17 May 2013, when he took part in a special Eurovision edition of the quiz, live from Malmö, Sweden.

[citation needed] On 3 April 2023, Bruce began broadcasting on Greatest Hits Radio with his first song being "Come Together" by The Beatles.

[27] From 1988 to 2022, he was Radio 2's commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest, having taken over from fellow broadcaster and friend Ray Moore.

[29] He has occasionally made appearances in "Dictionary Corner" on Channel 4's Countdown, the most recent stint being during the week of 11 February 2013.

[32] Bruce holds a PCV (Passenger Carrying Vehicle) driving licence and is the co-owner of a number of AEC Routemaster buses with Charles Nove, Alan Dedicoat and Steve Madden.

[33] On 3 March 2008, Bruce took part in Ready, Steady, Cook, broadcast on BBC Two, with Lynn Bowles.

[37] In February 2023, Bruce appeared with Murray in the first part of a BBC Two documentary series, presented by Chris Packham, titled Inside Our Autistic Minds.