Why Brucie was the real bonus
363 Co-star Rosemarie on late star’s magic
Are you happy to be back on the Generation Game? I am indeed. The last time you saw me on the show was 1973. I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to come back. It’s a good job I didn’t hold my breath! Mel and Sue were a dream. They’re back together for the first time since the Bake Off. They certainly kept me on my paws. What can fans expect from the show?
When Rosemarie Ford sits down to watch the Generation Game tonight she will be thinking about her good friend Bruce Forsyth.
The pair were a formidable duo on the BBC show from 1990 to 1994 – and struck up a bond which remained until Bruce’s death last August.
But she is excited to see what Mel and Sue bring to the revived show.
“It’ll be a bit strange with our lovely Bruce not being with us,” she admitted.
“Mel and Sue know what they’re doing. I’m sure they’ll make a great job of it. It’s great it’s two women as it makes it a different format. Bruce is a very difficult person to follow.”
The reboot sees the return of old favourites like the conveyor belt and cuddly toy.
Rosemarie supported Bruce during his second stint on the show. The first time he hosted was from 1971 to 1977, before Larry Grayson took over.
Comic Jim Davidson hosted after Bruce in 2005.
Rosemarie, who is married to actor Robert Lindsay, 68, told how the programme always threw up surprises – and it was down to Bruce’s quick thinking that she was spared her blushes.
“Bruce was my safety valve. I was in such safe hands all the time,” the 56-year-old said.
“He got me out of some messes. We filmed as live and there returning. The conveyor belt is very fast. Mel, Sue and I decided to test it out and have a little walkies. I almost flew off it. We got told off. BBC health and safety came down on us like a ton of bricks. There’s also the return of the sausage-making machine. Seeing granny grappling with it is not to be missed. You’ve been in the business for 65 years. What’s your secret? Fur hides the cracks. Grannies do it, usually over the top lip. Ha ha – boom boom. I’m still looking quite foxy. I reinvent myself like the Doctor. I haven’t come back as a woman yet but it could happen. What’s next for you, Basil? I’d like to have the Basil Brush Show back every night, maybe with Ed Sheeran doing a couple of numbers. I could replace Simon Cowell on Britain’s Got Talent. We’re both the same colour. And I’d love to be on Strictly. If Ann Widdecombe can do it, then why not me? was a time when a duck was supposed to fall. They’d forgotten to tell me they’d cut and I was waiting there, saying ‘And cue the duck’ and put my hands out. I looked and there was no duck. Bruce came on and said ‘Did no one tell you the duck’s been cut?’ He made a joke of it and kept it going.” Rosemarie says Bruce made her feel at home from day one on the show.
She said: “I walked into the rehearsal room and he put me at ease immediately. He sat down with me every single day over a cup of tea.”
Rosemarie went on: “He was such a great friend. I think about him all the time. I still can’t believe he’s not here. If someone goes, ‘It’s nice to see you’ I always want to say, ‘To see you, nice’.” Mel and Sue take fans on a fun trip down memory lane, showing glimpses of the humour that made them such a big hit on Bake Off. Pottery with Johnny Vegas and sausage making provide great innuendo-heavy commentary but you can’t help but feel they don’t take it far enough. It lacks the spontaneity of the Forsyth era. Brucie’s are some big shoes to fill but I’m sure he’d say “Good game, good game”.