Len Goodman Net Worth: Career Beginnings, Personal Life, Health Updates And Much More

By Aarush Sharma On Nov 15, 2022

Born on April 25th, 1944 in the Bethnal Green neighbourhood of East London, England is where Len Goodman spent his formative years.

When he was six years old, he relocated to the Blackfen neighbourhood of London with the rest of his family.

After that, he continued his education at Westwood Secondary Modern School, which is located in Falconwood. Goodman was a member of the school’s cricket team while he was there.

Len Goodman Net Worth

A television personality, dance instructor, and professional ballroom dancer, Len Goodman has amassed a net worth of $18 million over the course of his career.

In addition to hosting a number of television documentary series, Len Goodman also operates a ballroom dance school in Dartford, Kent, England.

Goodman is best known for his role as head judge on the reality television dance competition shows “Strictly Come Dancing” and “Dancing with the Stars.”

Len Goodman Career Beginnings and later

Goodman had a late start to his career as a dancer, in contrast to the majority of other professional dancers.

He didn’t start working in the industry until he was 19, when his doctor recommended dancing as a form of physical therapy to help him recover from a foot injury.

This turned out to be a stroke of luck, since Goodman went on to win a variety of titles at professional contests not long after this.

After Goodman finished first at the British Championships when he was in his late 20s, he decided to call it quits in the dance world.

In 2004, Goodman began a new phase of his career when he became the head judge on the BBC reality dance competition show “Strictly Come Dancing.”

The show features professional dancers who partner with celebrities to compete for the top prize. Goodman’s role as head judge marked the beginning of this new phase.

The couples are judged by a panel of judges based on their performances, which primarily consist of ballroom and Latin dances.

During his time on the show, which lasted until 2016, Goodman was a member of the panel alongside Arlene Phillips, Craig Revel Horwood, Bruno Tonioli, and Alesha Dixon.

Darcey Bussell was also a member of the panel. His last appearance was on the Christmas Day special in 2016, which was also his last.

The next year, Shirley Ballas took over for Goodman as the head judge of the competition.

Goodman became the head judge on the American version of “Dancing with the Stars” one year after he began his head judging role on Britain’s “Strictly Come Dancing.”

Since then, Goodman has appeared alongside fellow judges Bruno Tonioli, who also appeared on “Strictly Come Dancing,” and Carrie Ann Inaba.

In addition, he was joined by judges Derek Hough and Julianne Hough for all five seasons of the show.

Goodman did not make an appearance as a judge during seasons 21 and 29, but during the later of those two seasons, he did provide brief educational pieces on various dancing styles.

Aside from “Strictly Come Dancing” and “Dancing with the Stars,” Goodman has made a number of other appearances on television.

In 2006, he competed on an all-singing and all-dancing version of the game show “The Weakest Link,” on which he ended up winning the top prize.

Later on, Goodman became the host of a variety of documentary television series. In the spring of 2012, he was the host of the three-part BBC documentary series “Titanic with Len Goodman,” which commemorated the 100th anniversary of the voyage and final tragic fate of the titular ship.

The series was broadcast in the United Kingdom. Throughout the series, Goodman spoke with the descendants of Titanic survivors and focused on locations in the United Kingdom that were significant to the ship’s history.

Following that, in 2013, he presided over the BBC specials “Len Goodman’s Dance Band Days” and “Len Goodman’s Perfect Christmas,” and he also co-hosted the three-part series “Dancing Cheek to Cheek” alongside Lucy Worsley.

In 2014, Goodman took part in the ITV documentary “Secrets from the Clink,” which was broadcast over the course of two parts.

Later that same year, he began hosting the BBC documentary series “Holiday of My Lifetime,” in which he and a variety of celebrity guests travel to well-known vacation spots in the United Kingdom.

Through the year 2016, Goodman presided over the series as its host. During this time, he co-hosted the documentary series “Len and Ainsley’s Big Food Adventure” with chef Ainsley Harriott.

He also hosted the episode of the documentary series “Perspectives” titled “For the Love of Fred Astaire.”

Among Goodman’s other television credits, he hosted the family game show “Len Goodman’s Partners in Rhyme” in 2017.

Additionally, he has been a guest on a variety of shows, including “Football Focus” and “Who Do You Think You Are?”

On the radio, Goodman would occasionally substitute for the host, Paul O’Grady, on the Sunday afternoon music show that was broadcast on BBC Radio 2.

Between the years 2013 and 2018, he made appearances on the program. Later, in 2021, Goodman served as the host for several Bank Holiday specials that were broadcast on Boom Radio.

Len Goodman personal Life

Goodman wed Cherry Kingston in 1972, and the couple had a child together before divorcing in 1987.

After this, he began a committed relationship with a woman named Lesley, and the two of them went on to have a child together whom they named John.

John moved in with his mother after Goodman and Lesley eventually went their separate ways and divorced.

Goodman wed Sue Barrett, a dance teacher, in 2012, making her his second wife. The couple had been together for more than ten years prior to their marriage.

It is common knowledge that Goodman is a devoted supporter of the English Premier League club West Ham United.

In addition to that, he is an avid follower of cricket, and in 2009, he took part in a match between famous cricket players.

How Old Is Len Goodman’s Wife?

In a private ceremony held at the London dining club Mosimann’s on the 30th of December, 2012, Goodman wed Sue Barrett, a dance teacher who was 47 years old at the time. Goodman and Barrett had been together for more than ten years.

Why Is Len Leaving Dancing With The Stars?

He continued, “It’s been such a wonderful experience for me and look forward so much to next week’s finale.

I’ve been on the show since it started in 2005, and it has been a huge pleasure to be a part of such a wonderful show. However, I’ve decided that I want to spend more time with my grandchildren and family back in Britain.”

Conclusion

Early in 2009, Goodman was given a diagnosis of prostate cancer, and he subsequently received treatment in London, which was ultimately successful.