It’s the curtain for the star of one of Disney’s most popular and longest-running primetime TV shows, as he announced during a live broadcast Monday night.
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“I have decided to spend more time with my grandchildren and my family in Britain.”
Credit: Parade Magazine
These were the final words of Disney/ABC’s senior judge’s resignation. Dancing with the starsLen Goodman on Monday night during a live broadcast of the show’s Season 31 semi-finals that pairs celebrities with professionally trained dancers and tracks the couples’ progress over several weeks.
“I’m looking forward to next week’s final,” Goodman, 78, said midway through Monday night’s live stream. “It is also with a touch of sadness as this will be my last season judging on ‘Dancing with the Stars’.”
Goodman was the centerpiece of the judging panel on Dancing with the stars since 2005. But long before wielding such judicial power on the fringes of Disney’s most famous dance floor, he too had spent years under scrutiny and criticism, constructive or otherwise, from other judges in dance.
Credit: Seventies of Len/Len Goodman
Goodman didn’t start dancing until he was almost 20, after doctors recommended it as therapy after a foot injury. By his late twenties he had already retired from dancing, having turned professional, having won several competitions, including the British Championships in Blackpool.
Val Chmerkovskiy, one of the show’s professional dancers/instructors, says he was shocked by the announcement.
“I was very surprised by the news,” he said. Parade after Monday night’s show. “Nobody knew. What am I going to miss? I’m going to miss the familiarity. I knew him before the show. He’s such an important voice, an important authority. And the British accent makes all the difference. Everything I will miss him. Hopefully they will somehow have his spirit still present. We will miss him.
“It’s been an immense pleasure to be a part of such a wonderful show,” Goodman said, speaking to former supermodel and show host Tyra Banks. “But I’ve decided that I would like to spend more time with my grandchildren and my family in Britain. I can’t thank you enough, the ‘Dancing with the stars‘ family. It was such a wonderful experience and I’m so looking forward to next week’s final. I’m sure it’s going to be absolutely awesome.
Credit: YouTube
The end of Dancing with the stars, Season 31, airs live Monday night, November 21 on Disney+. Viewers can also stream episodes of the fan-favorite show anytime on the platform.
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