Fans of Len Goodman have been in shock since his passing at the age of 78, with condolences pouring in from all around the world.
Following a brief illness, the former Strictly Come Dancing judge died on Saturday while being cared for at a hospice in Kent, with it surfacing that his Dancing With The Stars colleagues were apparently kept in the dark about his bone cancer diagnosis.
On Monday evening, after Goodman’s agency confirmed his death, weather forecaster Darren Bett was delivering his normal report when he slipped in a quiet mention to the late dancer.
Goodman has a distinctive manner of speaking the number’seven’ while delivering his scores for dance routines on Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing With The Stars, roaring out the second syllable of the word at a higher-pitched loudness than the first.
Bett followed suit when revealing temperatures computed around the country for Tuesday this week, stating: ‘It becomes warmer over the land, the cloud bubbles up, spreads out, it does grow more overcast during the day.
He continued: ‘The winds will be light tomorrow, and temperatures will range from SEVEN up in northern Scotland to 12 in the South East of England.
‘It is with great regret to say that Len Goodman has gone away peacefully, aged 78,’ Goodman’s representative said in a statement.
‘A much loved husband, father and grandfather who will be sorely missed by family, friends and all who knew him.’
From 2004 to 2016, he was a judge on Strictly Come Dancing, and from 2005 until 2022, he was a judge on Dancing With The Stars.
Several Strictly contestants, including fellow judges Craig Revel Horwood and Anton Du Beke, paid tribute to him.
‘I’ve just woken up to the sad news that my gorgeous colleague and dear friend Len Goodman has passed away,’ Horwood tweeted.
‘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.’
Du Beke honoured his ‘dear friend of nearly 45 years’, saying that he found it ‘incredibly difficult to find the words to encapsulate Len’.
‘I first knew him when I was a young lad and was dancing, he was my dance judge. Len was different to anyone else in the dancing business – he was a wonderful character, he had a roguishness about him – he had twinkle. He had a way about him that you really wanted him to like you. If Len liked you, it was more important than anyone else liking you,’ he said.
‘He was one of the very few people that wherever he went, he was just being Len and everyone knows exactly what that means. He had a bit of a magic and that’s what always made him so popular.’
