Ken Bruce, 73, takes swipe at BBC after awards haul following exit from broadcaster: 'Reinvented myself'

The 73-year-old had hosted his Radio 2 show for almost three decades when he left in January 2023, stating the broadcaster had asked him to step down from his role before his contract had ended.

Now working for Greatest Hits Radio, Bruce picked up the awards for Best Daytime Show, Best Radio Show and Radio Personality.

After accepting the wins, he launched a subtle attack on his former employer as he talked about having "moved on".

He told The Sun: "It's a real privilege actually to have moved on and for people to make the noise and say, you know, you’ve done all right."

As he collected an award on stage, he told the audience: "I started 47 years ago this month, it’s amazing I’m still standing up here.

"It's been an absolute joy over the age of 60 to reinvent myself as something new."

Claiming another trophy, he later joked: "Now I’m looking forward to doing something else, maybe standing as President of the United States. It's lovely to see Scotland winning a trophy!"

It was announced last year that Bruce had quit his weekday morning show on BBC Radio 2 after an impressive 31 years.

Following the BBC's announcement of his exit, Bruce went on to say it was "time for a change" before adding: "I would stress that this is entirely my decision. I will always be very proud of my association with the BBC and Radio 2."

Bruce has candidly commented on his departure from the corporation before, explaining in March the BBC didn’t publicise any news when his Radio 2 show became “the biggest on air”.

“I didn't want any hoo-ha, so when my show became the biggest show on radio, I didn't want to say anything about it but I kind of thought the BBC should,” he recalled.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Bruce added: “I wasn't expecting to be carried on a litter with people strewing palms in front of me, but I thought, surely that's worth a mention? As far as I'm aware, it wasn't mentioned by the BBC at all. Ever.”

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He went on to tell the publication he needed “a little change in life” and insisted he was enjoying his role at Greatest Hits Radio.

The broadcaster was attracting around 8.3 million listeners before his departure and his exit announcement sparked disappointed reactions from loyal listeners.