Longtime 'DWTS' Head Judge Len Goodman Dead At 78

HOLLYWOOD, CA — Len Goodman, the English former professional ballroom dancer who had sat as head judge on ABC's “Dancing with the Stars” for 15 years, has died, his agent said Monday. He was 78.

Goodman “passed away peacefully” after a battle with bone cancer, agent Jackie Gill told the Associated Press.

He was head judge on the United Kingdom's “Strictly Come Dancing”—the show which first paired celebrities with professional dance partners—for 12 years from its launch on the BBC in 2004 before the concept was brought to the United States as "Dancing with the Stars" in 2005.

After spending multiple years as a judge on both shows, Goodman retired from "Strictly Come Dancing" in 2016 and from "Dancing with the Stars" in November 2022.

Goodman’s pithy observations, delivered in a Cockney accent, endeared him to viewers. “You floated across that floor like butter on a crumpet,” he remarked after one foxtrot. He praised a salsa-dancing couple as “like two sizzling sausages on a barbecue.”

"Len Goodman was a wonderful, warm entertainer who was adored by millions," Tim Davie, BBC Director-General, wrote in a statement. "He appealed to all ages and felt like a member of everyone’s family. Len was at the very heart of Strictly’s success. He will be hugely missed by the public and his many friends and family."

Kate Phillips, BBC Director of Unscripted, added that "Len was very kind to me and everyone who worked with him, always making time for a chat."

"I can't quite believe he's gone and we'll never have a Ten from Len again," Phillips said.

British broadcaster Esther Rantzen said Goodman had been “astonished and delighted” by his late-life fame.

“One of the reasons he succeeded so well in the States is that he was quintessentially British,” Rantzen told the Associated Press. “He was firm but fair, funny but a gentleman and I hope the nation will adopt his favorite expostulation of ‘pickle me walnuts.’”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.