‘Dancing with the Stars’ Len Goodman tribute: Watch the dance that made Bruno Tonioli break down in tears

“Len was just charming, and that’s how I remember him even at 12-years-old,” said ballroom dancer, six-time Mirror Ball champion and now “Dancing with the Stars” judge Derek Hough on “Most Memorable Year Night.” He was reminiscing about Len Goodman, who had judged “DWTS” since its very first season in 2005. But he decided to retire from the show at the end of the 2022 season, and then he passed away in April 2023. The show paid tribute to the late, great Goodman with a special group dance. Watch the entire segment above.

“He’s been in my life since the very beginning,” remembered Mark Ballas. Indeed, for many “DWTS” pros Goodman’s influence began well before the dance competition series first came on the air almost two decades ago. “He was very well respected within the ballroom community,” explained Kim Johnson-Herjavek. Ballas added, “He was a big-time judge when we were all starting to compete.” For Val Chmerkovskiy, “Dancing in front of Len was always very intimidating,” but for Louis van Amstel, “It’s an honor that I can say Len judged me.”

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SEE‘Dancing with the Stars’ Most Memorable Year recap: Emotional night included a tribute to Len Goodman [LIVE BLOG]

With his long history in the dance community, Goodman developed a reputation on “DWTS” as the toughest judge on the panel, who usually gave the lowest scores on average and was a stickler for tradition and authenticity when it came to choreography. But that critical eye made his praise all the more meaningful. You had to work extra hard to earn high scores from him, so whenever he finally said, “From Len, it’s a 10!” it was extra special. “The ballroom world will never be the same without Len,” said Anna Trebunskaya. And neither will “DWTS.”

To honor him, Val Chmerkovskiy and his wife Jenna Johnson choreographed an elegant “Moon River” waltz that they performed with Derek and Julianne Hough, Ballas, Johnson-Herjavek, Van Amstel, Trebunskaya, Karina Smirnoff, Edyta Sliwinska, Tony Dovolani and Maksim Chmerkovskiy. It was such a moving dance that you could see Goodman’s fellow judge Bruno Tonioli break down and cry with Carrie Ann Inaba. Perhaps Emmy voters will be just as moved when it comes time to nominated the season’s best choreographers next summer.

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