Variegated bush not so variegated

[Sconch]

Hello there, I'm new to the gardening board and know nothing about gardening, so I'm hoping someone can help me!

I have a large (1.5-2m high) variegated bush in the garden, although nearly half of it is just green. It was like this when we moved in a few years ago and I've done nothing with it since. I've read that if you get plain shoots on a variegated you should clip them off stright away to prevent them taking over, but I can't find what to do if the green has already taken over. Is it worth doing a brutal pruning taking out all the leaves to start afresh? Or is it too late and I should just grow to love the plain green look?

Also, is it true that variegateds need direct sunlight to stay variegated? And if so then isn't it inevitable that the north facing side will always turn green?

Many thanks in advance.

The problem is called reversion and you need to get rid of the non-variegated growth before it takes over the plant. To do this, prune out all the non-variegated shoots back right down to the wood.

Thank you! I'll have a wonky bush for a while but it's good to know it's worth doing before I embark on the (rather large) task of removing all the green.