Fiona Bruce prepared for viewers’ queries after Question Time debut
FIONA BRUCE said she was expecting viewers to wonder “who the hell” she is when she took over as the host of Question Time.
The news broadcaster and Antiques Roadshow presenter was announced as David Dimbleby’s replacement on the political programme in December when he stepped down.
She said that it felt “massively exposing”, as a job, but that she was trying not to let her nerves show.
All eyes were on the BBC News At Six and News At Ten presenter last night when she hosted her inaugural programme, following Dimbleby’s 25 years at the helm.
Bruce told the Daily Telegraph: “I am expecting people to say ‘Who the hell is that?’ ‘Why have they got her?’ I’ve got a slight feeling of tin hats at the ready.”
She added that, regarding Question Time, she has “not felt this nervous in a long time, but I know that if I am nervous that isn’t helpful”.
“If people think you are nervous then that isn’t a comfortable watch,” she said.
Bruce, 54, is the first woman to chair the political programme, which was returning after a short Christmas break.
She won the coveted role after candidates hosted a pilot episode of the current affairs debate show with panellists and a live audience, and it has been reported that she fended off competition from the likes of Kirsty Wark, Emily Maitlis, Nick Robinson and Victoria Derbyshire.
Bruce said she thinks the BBC was “as surprised as everybody else” when Dimbleby stepped down, because she did not expect to be approached for the role.
Question Time airs at 10.45pm on Thursdays on BBC One.