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Len Goodman Confirms He's Leaving 'DWTS'

ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" Season 19 Finale Day Two

Credit: (Photo by Adam Taylor/ABC via Getty Images)

The Dancing With the Stars judging panel will be losing a beloved judge after next season. Len Goodman revealed Monday that the show’s 20th season this spring will be his last.

“I’ve got my wife, I ‘ve got my son, my mother is still alive and she’s in the hospital — I’ve got to visit her,” he says. “So, I just need a bit of time to get on with a normal life. Dancing With the Stars — next year is their 10th year, it’s the 20th series of the show, so I think that’s a nice place to stop.”

Len has judged alongside Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba since the show’s premiere in 2005, with Julianne Hough added to the panel for Season 19 in 2014. At the same time, the English dance pro also judges on the show’s U.K version, Strictly Come Dancing.

But, he says, he’s not quite done with that gig yet. “I feel a loyalty towards the BBC,” Len admits. “I will do Strictly as long as they want me. Eventually, they will say, ‘He’s getting too old and fat now, Goodman, we’ll have to get shot of him,’ But all the time they would like me to do it, I will be doing it.”

Len missed several episodes of DWTS‘ 19th season to avoid traveling back and forth so often between shows, which both air live during the week.

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: SOPHIE DWECK

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