Bruce Forsyth hosted Strictly Come Dancing for 10 years from 2004, leaving the show just three years before he tragically passed away, surrounded by his devoted family

Former Strictly presenter Sir Bruce Forsyth made a sweet promise to his heartbroken wife, weeks before he died, aged 89.

The TV legend’s career spanned an incredible 75 years, with the national treasure the host of some of the UK’s best known game shows, including The Generation Game and Bruce’s Price is Right. When he fell ill in 2017, his wife of 35 years Wilnelia Merced was devastated at the thought of being left without the love of her life.

Bruce featured in the Strictly Come Dancing anniversary special 20 Fabulous Years, which was shown on Saturday night. The late entertainer the host of the BBC dance show from the first series in 2004 until 2014, with his presenting becoming a huge part of the competition for many fans.

Bruce, who was 29 years her senior, first met Wilnelia when she was aged 23, and he 51. But the age gap didn’t matter to the pair, with Wilnelia describing him as “the perfect partner. A friend, a lover, someone I could trust, respect and admire.”

Bruce presented Strictly for 10 years ( 
Image:
Redferns)

Speaking about his final weeks, before he tragically passed away from bronchopneumonia, she said she had realised his life was coming to an end. Speaking to the Mail, she said for two weeks before his death, “he was not well”. She added that she cancelled a meeting when she saw that “for the first time”, he couldn’t get out of bed.

Wilnelia recalled: “I said to him, ‘what am I going to do without you? I don’t even know how to use this television remote control.’ I’d bought him a huge, new television so he could watch his sport.

“He said ‘Really? The control?’ He was showing me how to use it and I said, ‘how am I going to live without you? How am I going to make decisions? He said ‘don’t worry I’ll be here. Every time you see a rainbow you’ll think of me and you’ll know what to do.”

Since his heartbreaking promise, and after he passed away, she has noticed rainbows more often, taking it as a sign that Bruce is always watching over her. She said that even a few hours after he died, surrounded by his five daughters, son and wife, a rainbow filled the sky, with Wilnelia taking a photo on her phone to keep forever.

She said how in her home country of Puerto Rico, the couple have a villa that looks out onto the Atlantic Ocean. With the climate meaning it rains before “glorious” sunshine returns, they would often see rainbows from their window. Wilnelia wonders if this is why Bruce mentioned them on his deathbed.

She added that she “wants to believe” that it’s him, explaining that in grief, the bereaved want to “grab anything that is there to make you feel good”. But Wilnelia has taken it as a sign that Bruce is look out for her whenever she sees one.