Len Goodman's Co-Star Recalls Final Conversation with Late 'DWTS' Judge

One of Len Goodman's former colleagues has recalled the final conversation she had with the beloved Dancing with the Stars judge, who died in his native England over the weekend.

The beloved TV personality died on Saturday at a hospice in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, where he had been receiving palliative care for bone cancer. Goodman, who was days shy of his 79th birthday, was surrounded by family, according to his agent.

"It is with great sadness to announce that Len Goodman has passed away peacefully, aged 78," read a statement. "A much-loved husband, father and grandfather who will be sorely missed by family, friends and all who knew him."

While Goodman became a household name in the U.S. while serving on the DWTS judging panel between 2005 and November 2022, he was initially head judge on the U.K. version of the show, called Strictly Come Dancing. He led the panel on the BBC show from its launch in 2004 until stepping down from it in 2016.

In an exclusive interview with Newsweek, Strictly Come Dancing singer Andrea Grant remembered London-born Goodman as a "true gentleman," who always had a kind word for his co-workers behind the scenes.

Grant, who first joined the Strictly Come Dancing live band in 2005, also recounted her final conversation with Goodman as he prepared to depart from the BBC show.

"Everyone was really sad when Len left Strictly," Grant told Newsweek. "There were tears on the set. We did a tribute song for him, and some of the dancers performed an old fashioned ballroom dance. He was the king of ballroom.

"I remember that when we finished recording that tribute dance for him it was just really, really sad. It was as though the joy had been ripped from everyone on the set. Because we knew that Strictly was never going to be the same again. He was head judge. And the best judge, because he knew his stuff. He was old school."

While the prospect of saying goodbye to a larger-than-life personality on the set drew tears from those before and behind the cameras, Goodman approached his imminent departure in his signature no-nonsense style.

"I remember saying to him, 'You can't leave. Like, you just can't do it!'" Grant recounted. "And he said, 'Well, I'm going, Andrea! I'm going, that's it—I'm out!' And I just kept saying, 'No, you can't go.' I couldn't imagine the show without him.

"I guess he was a little emotional after we filmed that dance. But he seemed to be at peace with his decision. He was like, 'I want to spend time with my grandkids and enjoy my life and my time with my family.'"

"It was a rare moment, as he kept his personal and work life quite separate," Grant went on. "He always had a cheerful word to share and was impressively quick-witted, but he was also the consummate professional."

Goodman had one son, James William Goodman, who was born in 1981. In 2015, James welcomed his own daughter, Alice. Grandson Dan was born four years later in 2019. The grandfather revealed in 2022 that family was his reason for also stepping away from his role on DWTS.

Though he was known for delivering acerbic, no-nonsense dance assessments to the hundreds of breathless celebrities who have nervously stood before him in the ballroom, Grant described him as a source of joy for all on the set.

"He always had a kind word to say to you, particularly if he saw you in passing," she told Newsweek. "He was a cheerleader for the band and live singers. He absolutely loved the band. And he'd always come over and ask how we were. He just loved us, which made us love him.

"Whenever he was on the set, people were in awe of him because he was straight talking. He was a no nonsense type of man. And people respected him and loved him for that. He just always had a kind word for people. He could be grumpy at times, but that was just Len. He shoots from the hip."

While he enjoyed stardom on both sides of the Atlantic for close to two decades, Grant remembers how Goodman's personable nature made everybody who fell into his orbit feel equally important.

"We're all just really upset about Len passing away. Just saddened," she said. "He always came up to the band and asked us how we were.

"The last time I saw Len was on the final Strictly tour that he did [in 2017]. On the tour, there was a day where I was feeling a bit down and I was walking past him and he could see that I wasn't myself. I later heard that he said to his makeup artist, 'What's the matter with old Andrea? I really like old Andrea.'

"He always called me 'old Andrea' whenever we spoke. I always felt that he cared. He really was a true gentleman, and he will be sorely missed."