Brucie gets a new girl to twirl

By MARK REYNOLDS, Daily Mail

He could so easily be putting his feet up.

But yesterday, Bruce Forsyth was working on some tricky dance steps - and introducing his latest glamorous companion - for his new Saturday night TV show.

The 76-year-old entertainer is waltzing his way back to primetime as the host of a revamped celebrity version on BBC1 of the Seventies' hit Come Dancing.

Tess Daly, 42 years his junior, will join him as co-host of the new show, Strictly Come Dancing - in which celebrities are taught how to dance.

Yesterday, Forsyth gave in to his catchphrase "give us a twirl" and whirled a breathless Miss Daly around the dance floor at Claridge's hotel in London.

Beautiful women

"Keep up, dear," he commanded. Miss Daly is the latest in a long line of beautiful assistants who have been at his side over the decades as he presented shows such as The Generation Game and Play Your Cards Right.

Anthea Redfern, his Generation Game co-host in the Seventies - whom he first famously asked to "give us a twirl" - became his second wife.

On The Price is Right, he teamed up with Emma Noble, while on Play Your Cards Right there were the glittering Dolly Dealers.

Off camera, the star's private life has been just as glamorous. Now married to his third wife, Wilnelia, he lives at the £4million family mansion in Surrey.

Divorce

He first set up home there with Miss Redfern and their daughters Charlotte and Louisa. They divorced in 1982.

Before Anthea, he was married to Penny Calvert, a former dancer. They divorced in 1973 and had three daughters, Debbie, Julie and Laura.

He has been married to Wilnelia, a former Miss World, for 22 years. They have a teenage son.

The BBC believes Strictly Come Dancing, which starts in May, will restore "family entertainment" to Saturday nights.

Guests including opera singer Lesley Garrett, ex-rugby star Martin Offiah, newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky and singer Clare Sweeney will join professional dancers before attempting to master their routines.