Ken Bruce opens up on the real reason he left BBC Radio 2

But now Bruce has revealed that he disliked some of the music he was forced to play, admitting he had started to feel “bitter and entrenched”.

Speaking to Gyles Brandreth for his new podcast series Rosebud, the broadcaster said: “There was a point of saying that I can’t enthuse over all the new music I’m having to play as much as I could over the old music.

"And I didn’t want to get to the stage where I was badmouthing some of the music [or] pretending to like it. I certainly did think I’ve got a bit more to offer."

He continued: "I didn’t want to be declining over the next three or four years and still doing the same show, but everybody around me getting younger and thinking, 'Am I the old bloke in the corner here?'

"I was the youngster on the station and then almost overnight I became the veteran, and I didn’t want to become the old grump in the corner saying “things aren’t what they used to be”, or [to] any new idea say, “No, we tried that, didn’t work”, which does happen.

"I just felt I would get more bitter and entrenched."

Talking about his move to Greatest Hits Radio, he said he feels “rejuvenated” and although he “loved working for the BBC," he felt it was the right time to “try something else".

His departure from the BBC ended on an abrupt note after he was asked to leave early after announcing his departure.

Bruce added: "I thought, 'Come on, you can trust me, I'm not going to do a Dave Lee Travis [and] start badmouthing everybody', because I had a lovely time at the BBC. So it was all a bit... unnecessary. It's entirely within the BBC's right to ask me to step away a little early. But for the sake of 17 days, it seems a shame."

Bruce broke the news to his Radio 2 listeners back in February that he had been forced to leave the BBC earlier than intended.

He tweeted: "I will be presenting my last show on Radio 2 next Friday. I had intended fulfilling my contract until the end of March but the BBC has decided it wants me to leave earlier. Let's enjoy the week ahead!"

His exit embroiled the BBC in an ageism row, with the broadcaster being accused of pushing out older stars, including Paul O'Grady, Steve Wright and Vanessa Feltz, and replacing them with younger stars such as Rylan Clark and Michelle Visage.

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