After more than a decade on Strictly Come Dancing, Len Goodman will bow out as head judge tonight.
“I’d much prefer to leave the show with people saying ‘Oh what a shame Len’s going’ rather than ‘thank heavens’ he’s off’. I just feel this is a good time for me to leave,” he said.
“All my friends are in Portugal playing golf and saying, ‘Len do you want to come with us? And I have to say: ‘No, I’ve got to go and do Strictly’. Plus my father died when he was 79, only seven years away from my age now, and although I hope to live until I’m 99, I need to have more me time now.”
Goodman, a former welder turned professional dancer, admits that Strictly changed his life, including financially. “Strictly paid my mortgage,” he said.
Darcey Bussell, one of the show’s four judges, is tipped to replace him as head judge, though there is still no decision over who will come on to the panel to join Bruno Tonioli and Craig Revel Horwood. “Sometimes Craig is too harsh and I let him know,” said Goodman. “Even a donkey needs a carrot and on occasions he just goes with the negative without an ounce of encouragement. As a judge on the show you have to educate a bit and encourage. He’s like a rottweiler. Bruno’s like a poodle and sees all the positives.”
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Every celebrity dancer wants to hear the words “A ten from Len”, though in the early weeks the bellow of “SEVERRN” is equally thrilling. His one-liners and curious metaphors are also notorious, such as his analysis that “you floated across the floor like butter on a crumpet”.
Asked about his most memorable moments, Goodman said: “Strictly is a funny thing because you tend to remember all the bad ones or the cranky ones. You remember Ann Widdecombe spinning around, you remember John Sergeant [dragging his partner across the floor], you remember Russell Grant being fired out of a cannon and I’m sure in five years’ time, people will still remember Ed Balls.”
Goodman said he has no idea why the show is such a hit. “Before it started I said to my wife, ‘I can’t see this working. Nobody’s interested in ballroom dancing and most of the celebrities I’ve never heard of’. But they went in all guns blazing on a Saturday night, with Bruce Forsyth, my hero, hosting it.”
He added: “As much as I know it’s the right time to leave I guarantee next year I’ll be sitting with my wife watching it.”