Sir Bruce Forsyth’s family reveal telly favourite was too frail to say goodbye to his pals before he died aged 89
SIR Bruce Forsyth's family have revealed the beloved star was too frail to say goodbye to his friend before he passed away.
The telly favourite passed away on Friday at the age of 89 and was remembered by his legions of fans and colleagues.
And now claims family members have revealed the star's health deteriorated so much days prior to his death that he opted not to let pals see him that way before he passed away.
A source claimed: "His friends weren’t aware of how rapidly he had declined and he didn’t want them to see him the way he was.
"None of his close friends came to say goodbye. Sadly it never happened. There were lots of people wanting to come and see him but they were batted away."
The source added: "Bruce said goodbye to all his children and to Winnie and they were all there at the time he died.
"Winnie was holding his hand. It was very emotional, peaceful and sad all at the same time. It was like he had just had enough and then he was gone."
The TV legend has reportedly left his £17million fortune to his wife Wilnelia Merced in order to avoid a hefty inheritance tax bill.
Wilnelia was Bruce's third wife and the mother of his son JJ. Bruce also had three daughters Debbie, Julie and Laura with his frist wife Penny Calvert who he split from in 1973.
By leaving his multi-million pound fortune to his wife of 34 years, Wilnelia will avoid having to pay a large inheritance tax bill.
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The law states that spouses and civil partners can leave their assets to each other without being taxed.
reports that Wilnelia plans to "distribute a chunk of his estate among his five other children, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren".
The 59-year-old former Miss World is now the director of his private company and can give gifts of up to £650,000 to Bruce's relatives tax-free.
A source said: “Bruce hated the idea of his estate getting devalued by inheritance tax and spoke about that publicly before his death.
“But leaving everything to Wilnelia means he avoids inheritance tax.
“He is likely to have done that as he trusted her to distribute the wealth among their relatives, and because she can give a significant amount away tax-free to their family, it means they end up with more.”
When asked about inheritance tax laws in 2015, Bruce said it was "over the top".
He said: “I think your inheritance should go to your children more than back to the country that you’ve lived in.
“I’m not saying you don’t owe the country something, of course you owe your country a lot for living there all those years. But I think it can be a bit over the top.”
Bruce Forsyth Enterprises is reported to be worth £6.2million.
The couple lived in a Surrey mansion worth £4million and Spears magazine estimated the former Strictly Come Dancing was worth £17million in total.
The couple also owned two properties in Wilnelia's native Puerto Rico worth £2million.
The newspaper reports that Bruce charged £25,000 for personal appearances and was paid £500,00 for his 2001 autobiography.
Bruce was also said to have £4million in "private savings, investments and assets such as jewellery and antiques".
Meanwhile, The Sun On Sunday revealed that Bruce's family are planning a BBC-backed memorial at Westminster Abbey to pay tribute to the TV legend.
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