‘If I got the way of my dad, that’ll be next year’
Len Goodman eerily predicted when he would die after making a comparison between himself and his beloved father in an interview last year.
On Monday (April 23), the former Strictly Come Dancing judge’s family announced the sad news that he had passed away at the age of 78, following a short illness.
Goodman had been in a hospice in Tunbridge Wells and was suffering from bone cancer.
The ballroom legend would have turned 79 on Tuesday, an age that he’d already predicted would have morbid significance for him.
In an interview in 2022, Len said he expected to die in 2023 as this would be the year he would turn 79 the same age his dad was when he passed away suddenly.
“My dad had the right idea, he loved gardening and he had a stroke while he was out in the garden. He was 79 so if I go the way of my dad, that’ll be next year,” he told the MailOnline six months ago.
“I don’t make a fuss about stuff like that. It’s like when you have a car — you keep it serviced but even so, you’ll have some trouble with your carburettor and you’ll need to get it fixed, and eventually the whole thing will conk out, and there you go.
“It’s more about the journey, and mine has been lovely.”
Best known for being the head judge on Strictly Come Dancing, Len was part of the judging panel from the show’s inception in 2004 until his departure in 2016.
He also worked on the US version of the show, Dancing with the Stars, but retired last year to spend more time with his wife Sue and their grandchildren, Alice, seven, and Jack, four.
Following the sad news of his death, tributes have poured in from across the world of showbiz for the star.
His fellow Strictly judges, Craig Revel Horwood, Bruno Tonioli and Darcey Bussell all shared touching tributes to their former colleague.
Horwood said: “I’ve just woken up to the sad news that my gorgeous colleague and dear friend Len Goodman has passed away. My heart and love go out to his lovely Sue and family.
“Len Goody Goodman is what I always called him and ‘It’s a ten from Len’ & ‘seveeeeern’ will live with me forever. RIP Len”
A number of former Strictly contestants also remembered the former judge.
Born in London in 1944, Goodman started out his career as a welder in Woolwich, before he took up dancing at the age of 19.
He later turned professional, winning several competitions and retiring in his late twenties to become a professional judge and teacher.
After this, he set up his own dancing school in Kent, the Goodman Dance Academy.
He leaves behind his wife Sue, who he married in 2012.
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