He was so kind to the dancers
Sir Bruce was holding wife Winnie’s hand in final moments Kristina Rihanoff BECAUSE he started as a dancer, Bruce was so kind to us professionals. He would tell producers to send us home because we’d been working hard all day. He was a fantastic man.
He was best when he wasn’t scripted. He said it was like reading someone else’s jokes. You would see his humour when he interacted with the audience. During one Christmas special he would pull kids from the audience and dance with them.
His wife invited me to his one-man show. Seeing him on stage at the London Apollo, it was absolutely incredible. There was two hours of pure entertainment. He sang, he danced, cracked jokes.
Strictly was never the same after he left. He brought something special to the whole show. I know he was unwell but because of his personality – he was always so full of life – I thought he would pull through.
when he became a Sir. I was really fortunate to be invited to his private party afterwards.” Rosemarie added: “When you think about the amount he has done and his incredible talent, it makes me feel so lucky to have worked with him. “He became a friend. He was so supportive. I couldn’t have wished for somebody better to work with. He was such a joy to be around. “We knew he was getting more frail and there would be a point when he couldn’t carry on but you just hoped he’d go on for ever. But he couldn’t.” She told how he would always make time to help settle her nerves before shows by having a cuppa with her. Rosemarie said: “When I first started working with Bruce, he realised I was very nervous. This was a huge show. “And he sat with me every day, with our cup of tea and digestives, and chatted to make sure I felt at ease.” And when Rosemarie’s father died shortly after the first series, Sir Bruce would phone and speak not just to her, but her sister and mum too. She said: “He would phone up every day and say, ‘Are you all ok?’ and just chat to us. That’s a man with a huge heart. He went above and beyond.” halina.watts @trinity mirror.com