Cutting Edge: Living With Brucie

14 July 2010

What made a former Miss World fall for a double divorcee, who was 31 years her senior and insisted on washing his dirty socks by hand? In 1983, aged just 24, Wilnelia Merced married one of Britain's most loved celebrity entertainers. Celebrating the 68th year of his showbiz career, Wilnelia wanted to unveil the secrets of their long and highly unusual marriage and Cutting Edge has been given unprecedented access in this intimate and revealing account of day to day life with national treasure, Bruce Forsyth.

The programme follows the couple on holiday in Puerto Rico and at home in their luxury mansion on the Wentworth Golf Course in Surrey. They are joined during a critical time as Bruce seems poised to put pen to paper on what might be one of his last big showbiz contracts - the presenter role on Series 8 of Strictly Come Dancing.

Wilnelia has loved and supported him for almost three decades and has seen the best of Bruce, both on and off stage. At this point in his life, what still drives this 82 year old TV legend to continue working and spend time away from his beloved Winnie? Exploring areas of Bruce and Wilnelia's life that have never previously been known, this film aims to gain insight into this couple, the love that has kept them together for so long and what life is like when the star steps out of the spotlight and into reality. 

Documenting him as you've never seen him before - "offstage Bruce" - the film shows him one moment singing love songs to Wilnelia, and the next, sharing his reflections on life and death; cracking jokes and entertaining on camera, and then berating a security guard who he thinks almost ran his golf buggy off the road.

The cameras are with the couple in Wilnelia's home country of Puerto Rico, where their roles are somewhat different as she, rather than her husband, is the national celebrity. Her mother recalls her initial feelings about Bruce, who was older than both Wilnelia's parents, and the fears she had about how the marriage would be received in Puerto Rico and indeed, given Bruce's age, how long before Wilnelia might be left on her own.

Like in any marriage, the people in it have their rituals and quirks. Back in their Surrey home, Bruce's own routines reveal more of the off-screen Bruce: from having the same breakfast every single day, with dried fruit spaced-out equidistantly on his porridge; to his strict morning exercise regime based on the Fountain of Youth book that Winnie's mother gave him on his wedding day; and his important domestic habits such as hand-washing his shirts and socks himself. Bruce also talks about what has made him the self-disciplined man he is, his past in the RAF and perfectionist approach to his job in the limelight. The private side of this showbiz persona is an 82 year old grandfather who loves nothing more than spending time with the family and pottering on the golf course.

As well as Bruce and Wilnelia taking part in observational filming with the crew, some of the documentary is shot by Wilnelia herself during times when they are together getting away from it all. Using this footage, and their interviews, she seeks to convey how their marriage straddled the age gap and succeeded against the odds, while capturing what it's like to live with her Bruce.

Living With Brucie offers a unique perspective on Britain's most loved entertainer from the woman who knows him best.