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Former Dancing with the Stars head decide Len Goodman has died. He was 78.
News of Goodman’s demise was confirmed by his supervisor, Jackie Gill, in a press release launched Monday morning.
“It is with great sadness to announce that Len Goodman has passed away peacefully, aged 78,” Gill stated. “A much-loved husband, father and grandfather who will be sorely missed by family, friends and all who knew him.”
Goodman, who had bone most cancers, died in a hospice in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, surrounded by his household.
Appearing on DWTS from 2005 till 2022, Goodman was usually credited with reigniting world curiosity in ballroom dancing by his work on varied widespread competitors exhibits. He additionally served as a decide on the British model of the present, Strictly Come Dancing, from 2004 to 2016.
Goodman, a former title-winning ballroom dancer, received the affections of viewers on each side of the Atlantic Ocean together with his witty feedback and Cockney accent. “You floated across that floor like butter on a crumpet,” he remarked after one foxtrot. He praised a salsa-dancing couple as “like two sizzling sausages on a barbecue.”
Goodman introduced his retirement from DWTS final yr, after serving on the decide’s panel for 31 seasons. During his final look on the present, Goodman obtained a standing ovation from the in-house viewers.
In his lifetime, he additionally offered BBC radio applications and made TV documentaries, together with a 2012 program in regards to the sinking of the Titanic. (As a younger man, Goodman labored as a shipyard welder for the corporate that had constructed the doomed ship.)
He additionally owned the Goodman Academy dance college in southern England.
Buckingham Palace stated Camilla, the queen consort, was “saddened to hear” of Goodman’s demise. The spouse of King Charles III is a fan of Strictly and danced with Goodman at a 2019 occasion celebrating the British Dance Council.
Camilla, then-Duchess of Cornwall, dances with Len Goodman throughout a dance efficiency organized by the British Dance Council in affiliation with The Royal Osteoporosis Society at Carisbrooke Hall on Sept. 5, 2019, in London, England.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman stated Goodman was “a great entertainer” who could be “missed by many.”
Social media tributes to the lionized dance decide have additionally poured in on-line.
English broadcaster and TV character Piers Morgan shared a photograph of him and Goodman dancing collectively hand in hand.
“Always had a laugh with Len, and swapped a few strong opinions,” Morgan wrote. “A quintessential Londoner and a top bloke.”
Bruno Tonioli, who was a decide alongside Goodman on DWTS, stated Goodman would “always be my perfect 10,” a nod to Goodman’s signature “10 from Len” judging catchphrase.
Darcey Bussell, a former Strictly Come Dancing decide, stated Goodman “gave me such support on my time at Strictly.”
“I feel so lucky to have worked with such a professional, funny loveable man,” she wrote.
British TV character Robert Rinder referred to as Goodman “a rare gentleman: Kind, charming, exacting, encouraging & danced like a dream.”
Craig Revel Horwood, additionally a former Strictly Come Dancing decide, despatched like to Goodman’s spouse and household.
— With recordsdata from The Associated Press
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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