Strictly Come Dancing makes Michael Aspel feel 'exhausted'

Michael Aspel hosted the predecessor to Strictly Come Dancing, Come Dancing, but even though he thinks the star-studded dance competition is "good", it makes him feel very tired.

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Former Come Dancing host Michael Aspel
Former Come Dancing host Michael Aspel

Michael Aspel feels "exhausted" when he watches Strictly Come Dancing.

The 92-year-old retired TV legend was one of the hosts of the predecessor show to the BBC One Latin and ballroom dance competition, Come Dancing - which aired from 1950 until 1998.

Despite Michael liking Strictly Come Dancing, he cannot watch a lot of it because it makes him feel very tired.

He told the new issue of Yours magazine: "Saturday night TV has changed so much.

"The dance show Strictly is good, but it leaves you feeling exhausted just watching it on the screen.

"Monday night is a good night but it is quiz night."

The star is surprised that the ITV and BBC biographical show This Is Your Life - which saw Michael surprise celebrities before Michael took them on a journey through their life and being reunited with fellow stars, friends and loved ones in a studio, with the assistance of the "big red book" - has not returned.

The programme ran from 1955 - with Eamonn Andrews at the helm until he died in 1987 - and ended in 2003, but it returned in 2007 as a one-off special, hosted by the esteemed journalist Sir Trevor McDonald.

And with similar shows being aired, including BBC One's Who Do You Think You Are? - in which celebrities discover the ancestral history of their family - Michael would like This Is Your Life to be rebooted in some form.

Aspel - who hosted the show from 1987 until 2003 - said: "I would like to see a This is Your Life reboot on TV.

"It's funny they haven't tried to bring it back, but there is so much that's similar now like Who Do You Think You Are?

"They are all great shows, I guess."

Michael retired from TV in 2008 after an illustrious 60-year career in showbusiness, but he gets angry because he is not currently doing anything.

He explained: "It is a bit frustrating as I'm not doing anything at the moment.

"I know I've done it all. People still say to me, 'I used to watch you growing up,' and, 'I feel as if I've known you all my life.'

"In my spare time I do drawings as I always wanted to be a cartoonist."

However, Michael is enjoying life - despite not sleeping well.

He said: "I'm 92 and time does move faster as you get older.

"But I am enjoying life, though I have to say that I don't sleep very well these days.

"Whether that is the latter part of being old, I don't know.

"I just lie awake staring at the ceiling. But that's okay, I think I have a busy mind, something a tablet won't take care of.

"That is just the way you are."