Len Goodman

At 80 years old, Len Goodman has this physical status:

Leonard Gordon Goodman (born 25 April 1944) is an English professional ballroom dancer, dance judge, and mentor. He has served as head judge on television dance competition Strictly Come Dancing, a competition where many celebrities have partnered with professional dancers to compete for the glitter ball trophy, from 2004 to 2016, and Dancing with the Stars since 2005.

In Dartford, Kent, he also runs a ballroom dance school.

Early life

Goodman was born in London. He was six years old when he arrived in Blackfen and later attended Westwood Secondary Modern School, where he was a member of the cricket team.

As his older siblings all moved to Newcastle, Goodman was one of three children and the only child of the family to remain in the family industry.

Personal life

Cherry Kingston, the Goodman's dancing partner, was married later, but they were later divorced. He had a long-term relationship with a woman named Lesley, and they had a boy named John. At the time, Goodman was 36 years old. Lesley narrated that he was the ex-wife of "a bloke" who had ruled the band Black Sabbath. "Lesley and Wilf married in Connecticut."

John William Goodman Bell, a member of Goodman and Lesley, was born on January 26, 1981, but at the age of 12, he and his mother returned to her native Isle of Wight after their parents' divorced. As of 2012, James began Latin and ballroom dancing at his father's Goodman Dance Centre.

In a small celebration at a London dining club Mosimann's, Goodman married Sue Barrett, a 47-year-old dance instructor, on December 30.

Goodman is a West Ham United fan and appeared on BBC football show Football Focus on September 26, 2009. He is also a keen cricket fan and played in a celebrity Ashes cricket tournament in 2009.

In March 2009, Goodman was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which was treated surgically at a London hospital.

Goodman appeared on BBC's Who Do You Think You Are in October 2011, in which he discovered that one of his maternal ancestors was a silk-weaver who died as a pauper in Bethnal Green's workhouse. Josef/Josnowski, the great great grandfather of a goodman, came from Poland, where he served in the anti-tsarist November uprising for which he was given Virtuti Militari, Poland's highest military award for heroism and courage. After finding out about his ancestry, Goodman wrote: "I feel no different, I look no different," says Goodman, "I am no different," I am no different, and yet I am not what I thought I was." "I suspected that I was truly an Anglo-Saxon, English through and through."

Goodman had undergone surgery in 2020 for a small facial melanoma, according to September 2021.

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Career

Goodman served as an apprentice welder in Woolwich, Harland and Wolff. Since his doctor suggested it as therapy for a foot injury, he began dancing at the age of 19.

After winning the British Championships at Blackpool in his late twenties, a goodman turned professional, won various tournaments, and retired from dancing. Goodman is a recipient of the Carl Alan Award for outstanding contributions to dance and, in 2006 and 2007, a show in which he appeared was nominated for the Emmy Award in the Outstanding Reality/Computation Program category.

Goodman served as the head judge on the BBC One dance competition Strictly Come Dancing from 2004 to 2016. He appeared on the panel with Arlene Phillips, Bruno Tonioli, and Craig Revel Horwood; Phillips was later replaced by Alesha Dixon and then Darcey Bussell. Goodman revealed in July 2016 that he would be leaving the show at the end of the year's season. His last appearance on the Christmas Day Special was on the Christmas Day Special. Shirley Ballas will replace Goodman as the head judge on May 9, 2017.

Goodman has been the sole head judge on Strictly Come Dancing's American version, Dancing with the Stars. He has appeared with fellow judges Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli since the show's inception and as a fourth judge Julianne Hough and Derek Hough for five seasons. He did not appear as a judge in season 21 and 29, but he did a few short segments on dance styles during the latter season.

Goodman hosted a three-part BBC One documentary from March 30 to PBS in the United States in honor of the RMS Titanic's 100th anniversary of voyage and sinking from 30 March to September 9, 2012. It based on his time as a welder at Harland and Wolff. Goodman interviewed descendants of refugees and introduced viewers of memorials and important sites in the United Kingdom.

In 2005, he appeared as a Professor in the Emmy award-winning children's program, Auto-B-Good.

Goodman performed Len Goodman's Dance Band Days on BBC Four in 2013. On Boxing Day, Len Goodman's Perfect Christmas was also hosted on BBC One.

Goodman was one of a number of well-known faces in ITV's two-part documentary series Secrets from the Clink in August 2014.

Goodman and Lucy Worsley appeared on the BBC Four three-part series Dancing Cheek to Cheek in November and December 2013.

Goodman hosted Holiday of My Lifetime on BBC One in October 2014. In February 2016, Len and Ainsley Harriott hosted Len and Ainsley's Big Food Adventure, a 10-part series focusing on world cuisine in England and Wales.

Partners in Rhyme, based on Matt Edmondson's game, Obama Llama, was hosted in 2017.

Goodman made a surprise appearance in Hollyoaks in October 2021 as part of the serial drama's unfolding dance storyline when his voice was heard as dance teacher Trish Minniver, played by Denise Welch, was reminiscing.

During some of Paul O'Grady's weeks off between 2013 and 2018, Goodman performed a Sunday afternoon music show on BBC Radio 2 on Sunday afternoon. Goodman performed songs he grew up with, mainly because of his simple nature combined with recalled memories of his youth and family.

He hosted three special bank holiday shows for Boom Radio in 2021.

In 2006, he appeared on an all singing/dancing version of The Weakest Link, defeating Stacey Haynes in the final to receive the £8050 for charity.

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