Heavy/Disney+ The judges from "Dancing with the Stars."
Veteran “Dancing With the Stars” judge Len Goodman will be honored in a special way on a TV dancing show that was close to his heart.
The 2023 premiere of the UK ballroom competition “Strictly Come Dancing” will pay tribute to the late dance show judge, according to Express, and producers will be pulling out all the stops.
Goodman, 78, died at a hospice in Kent, England on April 24, 2023, following a battle with bone cancer, Variety reported.
The beloved choreographer was a judge on the BBC’s “Strictly Come Dancing” from 2004 until 2016. He did double duty on “Dancing With the Stars” starting in 2005. In November 2022, Goodman announced his retirement from the U.S. show at the end of season 31.
Len Goodman Will be Honored With Dances & Special Tributes on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’
Sources told Express that the new season of “Strictly Come Dancing” will kick off with a “powerful and emotional” tribute to Goodman, who long served as a head judge on the show. “There won’t be a dry eye in the house,” an insider said of the upcoming tribute.
In addition to a “show-stopping group dance” that would bring back some ex-pro dancers in honor of Goodman, there will be “an emotional montage of tributes,” the outlet reported.
There will also be a series of eulogies from family and colleagues including veteran judge Anton du Beke. It is unclear if fellow “Strictly Come Dancing” judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood or Motsi Mabuse will speak in Goodman’s honor.
BBC Director-General Tim Davie previously credited Goodman for “Strictly Come Dancing’s” success. “Len Goodman was a wonderful, warm entertainer who was adored by millions,” Davie said in a statement shortly after Goodman’s death. “He appealed to all ages and felt like a member of everyone’s family. Len was at the very heart of ‘Strictly’s’ success.”
The 2023 premiere date for “Strictly Come Dancing” has not been confirmed, but Yahoo News UK reported that the hit show is expected to return to BBC One sometime this autumn.
Derek Hough Revealed He Will Honor Len Goodman During His Stage Show This Fall
ABCThe ‘Dancing With the Stars’ season 30 judges
The 32nd season of “Dancing With the Stars” will premiere in the U.S. in September and will air live on ABC and Disney+ Monday nights at 8/7c, according to Gold Derby. Plans for a tribute to Goodman are a given but have not yet been officially announced.
But DWTS judge Derek Hough did reveal that he plans to honor Goodman during his nationwide tour, “Derek Hough – All New Spectacular Symphony Of Dance,” which is set to kick off later this year.
“I’m thinking about a moment on the show that I want to dedicate to Len,” Hough told TV Insider in an interview following Goodman’s death. “I’m trying to select the right song. The feeling I get when I think about Len is doing a pure and classic waltz or foxtrot. ‘No fussing about! No lollygagging!’ That’s what I want to do. I want to honor him by bringing the history of dance into the future and to never lose the history of where dance came from.”
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