I am sure anyone who loves dancing and loves television series knows about Len Goodman. Famously known as ‘Mr. Charismatic,’ Goodman was known as a legendary dancer with outstanding skills and the wittiest humor, just enough to keep everyone entertained and enthralled by him. He sadly passed away on the 22nd of April, 2023. It has only been a few days since his demise, but he continues to live alive with us and within the hearts of the people who loved him.
Talking more about him and his successes, he was born in London, United Kingdom, on the 25th of April 1944 to Louis and Gordon Goodman. Len Goodman hadn’t taken an interest in dancing and was more into sports until the age of 19 when due to a foot injury, a doctor suggested he dance to help with his recovery.
That turned out to be a turning point in Goodman’s life as his professional career took off from that point on. He quickly became interested in ballroom dancing, as a result of which he won various competitions too, such as Dual of Giants, British Rising Stars, and the British Championships in Blackpool, which he is famously known for. It was after reaching his late 20s that Goodman decided to quit competitive dancing.
This was just the start of a new chapter in his life, though, as he soon became a television sensation as a judge on iconic dance shows such as “Strictly Come Dancing,” a British Show and the American version of the same show known as “Dancing with the Stars.” Apart from this, he also had a dance academy known as Goodman Dance Academy in Dartford, Kent, South East England, which too could be attributed as his source of net worth.
Apart from these, he also hosted and participated in a considerable number of documentaries and shows such as BBC’s 2012 “Titanic with Len Goodman,” “Len Goodman’s Dance Band Days,” “Holiday of a Lifetime” and another series he co-hosted with Lucy Worsley known as “Dancing Cheek to Cheek.” He had a significantly high net worth at the time of his death and was also considered one of the richest celebrities.
Len Goodman’s Net Worth
This Carl Alan Award-winning dancer and celebrity has a total net worth of an astounding $18 Million. His salary working as the main judge at Strictly Come Dancing was $312K per series, and his salary for Dancing with the Stars for the first season was $125K, which increased over the years went up to $1.2Million per season with an approximate $50000 per episode. He was the highest-paid judge on the show before he decided to quit.
He earned a lot of fame, and his amazing dancing skills and knowledge are unmatchable by anyone else. He was invited by renowned dance academics for competitions such as the National Association for Teachers of Dance, the World Dance Council, and the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance. There are DVDs available for the general public with name “Dance With Len Goodman” that teach about dance. He is known to own a company Pleasurable Passtimes Limited with assets of $5.39 Million, almost double the amount as compared to its previous accounts.
He left the show “Strictly Come Dancing” in 2016, saying that he did not want people to be bored of him anymore and that his 10yr long journey was memorable, but that he just could not be the head judge of the show anymore. He left the show with $1.1 Million, that he completely deserved.
Not a lot is known about Goodman’s personal assets or housing properties, but the information available states that Goodman had a $2.2 Million property investment that he left behind for his now wife, Sue Barrett, and his son James Goodman from a previous love engagement. He was previously married to Cherry Kingston, but they got divorced after a while.
Top Shows of Len Goodman
1. Strictly Come Dancing (Release Date: 15/05/2004):
Strictly Come Dancing is a British dance reality show wherein celebrities come and participate in the show. Celebrities are partnered with professional dancers and compete with other celebrity-dancer duos to win the trophy and the show in the process.
There are eliminations done every week, and the thing that can stop them from being eliminated is by performing well and getting good scores from the judges present. Jen Goodman was a part of this show as a head judge from the very start, from his 60s in 2006 till 2016, when he finally decided to quit the show in his 70s.
Throughout the show, he made a name for himself not only as a dancer but also as a judge there who would make witty remarks and one-liners that are here to stay. “It’s a ten from Len” was a catchy phrase that he seldom used, which grew to be an extremely famous line. Besides the line being catchy, it was also the line that made the participants feel like they had won it all!
2. Dancing with the Stars (Release Date: 01/06/2005):
Dancing with the Stars is an American International Television Series which is based on the format followed by Strictly brought out by BBC Studios. In this show, too, celebrities come about on the show and be paired with professional dancers, who will together be competing against other duos.
The focus was on ballroom and Latin dances, which Len Goodman was obviously an expert of. Alongside Strictly, Goodman was working as a judge for the show Dancing with the Stars too. He was on the show as a judge almost throughout the timeline that this show has been on-air and coming up with seasons. They have their 32nd Season coming up right now.
Even for this show, Goodman had some phrases that became famous, such as “you floated across that floor like butter on a crumpet” because, as he would say, they are “fab…u…lous!”.
Len Goodman’s works, his contributions, the entertainment, and the knowledge he has given us are unmatchable and will always continue to preside in our hearts and minds. He prevails to be just as special as “Ten from Len” was for the contestants!
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