Popular broadcaster Ken Bruce has opened up about the real reason he left BBC Radio 2, slamming the music he had to play.

The radio personality made the decision to switch stations after 31 years, telling fans that he felt it was "time for change".

However, Bruce has now revealed that he disliked much of the music he was forced to play, admitting that he was beginning to feel "bitter and entrenched".

Ken Bruce reveals why he left BBC Radio 2

Speaking with Gyles Brandreth on the Rosebud podcast, RadioTimes reports that he 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."

Ken Bruce added: "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."

Of taking on his new role at rival Greatest Hits Radio, he said he felt "rejuvenated" and that while he "loved working for the BBC," the time was right to "try something new".

Previously, his distinguished tenure at the BBC came to an abrupt end when he was asked to leave early after announcing his intention to step down.

He said of the move by the broadcaster: "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."