Bruce Forsyth fails to get knighthood

The publication of the New Years Honour's list today will not make happy reading for the host of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, Bruce Forsyth, who, despite a campaign by his fans to get him a knighthood, has ended up with nothing. More than 25,000 people voted on the social networking website Facebook to get the entertainer a gong, using an adapted version of one of Forsyth's famous catchphrases 'Knight to see you… to see you Knight’.

Earlier this year, a group of 41 British MPs led a motion calling for him to be knighted. The campaign even reached the Downing Street website, where more than 5,000 people signed two petitions asking Gordon Brown to honour the 80-year-old. Indeed, Forsyth (pictured with his wife Wilnelia), who has formerly hosted the television programmes Play Your Cards Right and The Generation Game, seemed a dead certainty. Bookies stopped taking bets on him earlier this month after a wave of wagers saw his odds plummet to 1/2 favourite, from 33/1 at the start of the year.

So why was he overlooked? Insiders point out that it is simply because he received a CBE in 2006 and only exceptional achievements are recognised with an honour more than once every four years. However, this does not wash with Darren Gough, the former England cricketer and Stictly contestant. "He is a true professional who has been entertaining the nation for almost 70 years," he said. "The man is a national treasure and should be recognised for the work he has done."

Meanwhile, Michael Sheen, the actor who played Tony Blair in the Oscar-winning film The Queen, alongside Dame Helen Mirren, proved luckier, receiving an OBE. He said: "This is a huge honour. I am both thrilled and slightly mystified. But very grateful. It'll be nice to meet the real Queen at last."
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