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Len Goodman attends a "Dancing with the Stars" event in November 2019 in Los Angeles. He died on Saturday, less than a yr after retiring from the show. Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images

Len Goodman attends a "Dancing with the Stars" event in November 2019 in Los Angeles. He died on Sabbatum, less than a yr after retiring from the bear witness.

Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images

Len Goodman, the beloved ballroom champion and longtime judge on Dancing with the Stars and its British counterpart Strictly Come up Dancing, has died of bone cancer at age 78.

Goodman died Saturday peacefully and surrounded by family at a hospice in Kent, England, his agent Jackie Gill told the BBC. Goodman is survived by his wife, son and 2 grandchildren.

"Len Goodman was a wonderful, warm entertainer who was adored by millions ... and felt similar a member of everyone's family," BBC Director-General Tim Davie said in a argument. "He will be hugely missed by the public and his many friends and family."

Goodman began his career as a professional ballroom dancer. He first started dancing at the age of xix, and, after winning the British Championships in the 1970s, retired in his late 20s to open a trip the light fantastic school.

He made his way to goggle box — and international fame — several decades later. Goodman was the head judge on the BBC's "Strictly Come Dancing" from its launch in 2004 until 2016, and on DWTS from 2005 until 2022.

He spent several years judging the British and American shows simultaneously, "criss-crossing the Atlantic weekly," the Associated Printing reports.

Goodman besides won the Carl Alan Award (the "Oscars of the dance globe") in recognition of outstanding contributions to dance and wrote several books, including his 2009 biography, Better Late Than Never: From Barrow Boy to Ballroom.

Goodman announced his retirement from DWTS concluding November, at the end of flavor 31 (he had served as a guess in all merely two of them). He said he wanted to spend more than fourth dimension with his family and grandchildren back in Great britain.

"Doing a live bear witness you accept to be at the top of your game and quick to react. And equally ane gets older, so things starting time to get more challenging," he told People magazine shortly later on. "I haven't fallen asleep or started dribbling nevertheless on the testify, so I idea information technology'due south best to go before I start to do and so!"

Goodman added that part of his retirement would include digging through old DVDs to relive favorite memories of seasons past.

"I have had a wonderful run of good fortune and cannot thank anybody plenty who assisted me along the fashion," he said.

Goodman rose to fame in his afterwards years

Goodman grew up in London's Eastward End and spent his formative years working at his father'southward fruit and vegetable stand ("and being bathed at dark in the aforementioned water they used to cook the beetroot," per his autobiography) and and so equally a welder in the London Docks.

A foot injury dashed Goodman'due south dreams of becoming a professional person soccer player, but did introduce him into the world of ballroom dancing, subsequently his doc suggested he try it equally part of his recovery.

Goodman danced professionally for about a decade, winning several championships with his partner-turned-married woman Cherry Kingston (they divorced in 1987, and he married dance instructor Sue Barrett in 2012).

But he didn't get a household name until his 60s, when he started judging on Strictly Come Dancing and DWTS.

"I recollect he was astonished and delighted past what had happened to him at an age when dancers retire or have long retired," British broadcaster Esther Rantzen told PA Media. "I retrieve it really pleased him that ballroom dancing had get the flavour of the month, the country had fallen in love with it over again."

Rantzen said she believes Goodman was so successful in the U.S. in part considering "he was quintessentially British: house but fair, funny but a admirer."

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Goodman became known for his colorful feedback and singled-out delivery, from catchphrases like "pickle me walnuts" to his signature score proclamations of "se-VEN" and, on rare occasions, "it's a 10 from Len."

Some of his most memorable lines, as compiled past the AP and BBC, include: praising a salsa-dancing couple every bit "like ii sizzling sausages on a charcoal-broil," telling a dancer they had "floated across that flooring like butter on a crumpet," comparing one contestant to "a stork who'd been struck past lightning" and another to a chess principal: "You lot plotted your way around that floor. That was a mango of a tango."

Costars remember Goodman as a admirer

The British royal family and prime number minister offered their condolences on Mon, the BBC reports.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described Goodman as "a cracking entertainer, a popular face on Goggle box screens up and down the land." Buckingham Palace said that Camilla — a fan of the show who danced with Goodman at a 2019 upshot — was "saddened to hear the news."

Tributes are likewise pouring in from Goodman's colleagues and fans, who are remembering him for his wit, warmth and integrity.

DWTS gauge Carrie Ann Inaba shared a montage of photos and videos of the two together on Instagram, calling him "A Dancer. A teacher. A refined gentleman. A wonderful storyteller. A special soul. A mentor. A family man. And ... A treasured friend."

"Saying goodbye at the end of final flavor broke my middle," she wrote. "But today's news has shattered information technology all over again. I can't believe that yous're gone."

Bruno Tonioli, who has judged on both shows, called Goodman his "dear friend and partner for 19 years, the 1 the but ballroom legend."

He wrote on Instagram that he is heartbroken over the loss and volition "treasure the retentivity of our incredible adventures and hundreds of shows we did together."

Strictly Come Dancing host Claudia Winkleman described him as "one of a kind, a vivid and kind human. Full of twinkle, warmth and wit."

"Len Goody Goodman is what I always called him and 'It's a 10 from Len & seveeeeern' will live with me forever," Strictly Come Dancing guess Craig Revel Horwood tweeted.

Kristina Rihanoff, a one-time professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing, tweeted that Goodman volition always be her favorite guess, calling him an "honest & witty person with integrity & respect for us — young man dancers."

British television personality Robert Rinder described Goodman as "a rare admirer: Kind, mannerly, exacting, encouraging & danced like a dream."

"RIP Len Goodman," he added. "It's a ten from us all."

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/04/24/1171605925/len-goodman-dancing-with-stars-host-dies