Bruno Tonioli's long-term model partner, Eurovision bid and decision to quit Strictly

Bruno Tonioli has been a familiar face on UK TV screens since 2004, when he turned up as a judge on the very first series of Strictly Come Dancing. The former dancer from Italy was on the original panel alongside Craig Revel Horwood, Arlene Phillips and the late Len Goodman.

After 18 years on the ratings winner, Bruno left the BBC programme in 2019. The 68-year-old entertainer has now been on ITV's Britain's Got Talent since 2023.

As the programme returns to ITV1 and ITVX this Saturday (April 20) for its 17th series, with Bruno back on the juding panel alongside Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden, here's all you need to know about Bruno.

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Bruno's background before TV fame

Bruno was born in Ferrara in Italy in 1955. He has lived in London since 1975. He worked as a dancer and choreographer for decades. His CV includes music videos, stage shows and tours for artists such as Tina Turner, Sting, Elton John, the Rolling Stones, Freddie Mercury, Sinitta, Boy George, Dead or Alive, Bananarama, and Duran Duran.

Impressively, Bruno can speak five different languages – Italian, German, French, Spanish and English. "When I came to England, you know the only thing I could say was 'yes,' he revealed in an interview with Cambridge university. And I didn’t understand a word. So that soon puts you into trouble. I learnt quickly to say 'no' anyway, I’ll tell you that!"

Alternative career

Bruno’s parents had quite a different idea as to what Bruno should do in his career as whil he envisaged a job in the creative realm, they saw him working with numbers.

"As a kid I used to paint, I used to do collage, I used to do sculpture, I used to design clothes, I used to sing – I did singing competitions, plays… I mean, anything but being an accountant, which is what my parents wanted me to be," he said on an episode of BBC’s Desert Island Discs.

"And I really had a lot of angst and conflict because of that. I didn’t see any escape. I always felt I was from another planet, totally disconnected at times."

Time on Strictly Come Dancing

Bruno was a judge on the first series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2004., alongside Craig Revel Horwood, Arlene Phillips and the late Len Goodman. A year later, he took on judging duties across the pond, on Dancing with the Stars.

During the Covid pandemic, Bruno was stuck in the US and did not appear on the Strictly judging panel at all during the series, instead appearing each week via video during Sunday night's results shows

After 18 years on the ratings winner, Bruno left the BBC programme in 2019. Anton Du Beke, the longest-running Strictly professional, replaced him on Strictly for series 19.

His decision to leave the hit BBC show in 2022 was due to his exhausting travel schedule, which saw him travelling back and forth between the UK and the States each week. "I'm done," he told The Sun, adding at the time: "I just can't do it anymore." The Italian judge, who has appeared on Strictly since the first series, has since focused his energy on filming Britain’s got Talent and Dancing With The Stars USA.

Landing Britain's Got Talent job

The flamboyant entertainer has now been on ITV's Britain's Got Talent since 2023, replacing former judge David Walliams alongside Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon - his former Strictly co-judge - and Simon Cowell.

Joining for series 16, he showed he had much to learn about the ITV1 programme, pressing the Golden Buzzer during the performance for Ugandan dance group Ghetto Kids instead of waiting until the end. Undeterred, he did it again in the sixth episode, for singer Gamal John, meaning he had two uses of the buzzer instead of the judge's allotted one.

Speaking to The Sun after his first set of auditions last year, Bruno said: “This is the biggest show on British TV, now that I’m here. I mean it. Simon is going to hate that I’ve said that but oh well.

He added: “I have nothing bad to say about Strictly, it changed my life.

“(But) this is completely different and it’s a completely different sort of judging. The range of this show, you see things that you have no idea are coming.

“I have been in showbiz for 50 years now and I’ve worked with everyone from Tina Turner and French and Saunders to Michael Caine, so I know when something works and I know why it works.

“I know what this job needs.”

Surprise Eurovision bid

In 1980, Bruno’s group Duke and The Aces tried to make it to the final of the music competition. They performed Love is Alive dressed in red leather jumpsuits on UK’s internal selection show A Song For Europe, hosted by Terry Wogan. Unfortunately they finished in seventh place so didn’t get to take their performance to the European stage.

Long-term model partner

While he keeps much of his private life out of the public eye, Bruno is in a long-term relationship with model Jason Schanne, who he has been dating since 2010 as is 31 years his junior. They reportedly had a commitment ceremony in 2012 which which was said to be attended by celebrities including Perez Hilton and Johnny Weir.