The iconic former Strictly Come Dancing head judge Len Goodman died on Saturday aged 78, and former Strictly professionals AJ Pritchard and Flavia Cacace praised the late ballroom sensation.
AJ told Vanessa Feltz on TalkTV: “It is very sad but I have to think of it as being a celebration. Every time I think of Len, the memories, the videos, Len’s Lens - I can’t even say the number seven in a normal way any more - it has to be a sev-EN!
“To think that one person could have changed the perception of ballroom and Latin dancing from the sequins, the fake tan… at the beginning it was like, ‘Yeah yeah I’m a dancer’, kind of proud of it internally but maybe not externally and then Len and Strictly Come Dancing - he has that magic recipe that made ballroom and Latin what it is today and to be proud to say I am a ballroom Latin dancer.
"It is hard work but we have a good time, that’s for sure.”
Vanessa said: “He had very exacting standards as I remember very clearly as I’m ‘Strictly Class of 2013’. He wasn’t a man to go for necessarily the public whim, was he?
“If he said that it had to be toe first or heel first or whatever it was, and your fleckerl [a dance step commonly found in the Viennese waltz] had to be of a certain calibre, my god, your fleckerl had to be of a certain calibre, didn’t it?”
AJ replied: “100 per cent. He was straight to the point. He was a true ballroom and Latin dancer he said it as it is and he didn’t worry what anyone else was going to say.
"From his phrases, from, ‘Pickle my walnuts’, whatever he said it was always a constructive criticism and even if it was like a dog's dinner and somebody’s fallen over and it’s all gone wrong, he would still give you that motivation to get up."
“He just made it feel like it was you and him in the room,“ AJ continued. “There wasn’t 12 million people watching at home, or even if you were that person sat at home, you felt like it was just him and you giving that lust for life and that’s the one thing with Len. He was doing Strictly in the UK and America at the same time, flying back and forward. He had such energy, it was unbelievable.“
Former Strictly star Flavia added: “I didn’t know he was unwell so it does come as a complete shock. But I agree with everything that’s been said. He was such an incredible character and did as AJ said, he brought the two worlds together.
“He was very respected in the ballroom world as a competitor and an adjudicator, but he also that this incredible charisma for the showbiz side of things and I think that’s what made it such a success, was that he was able to bring the two worlds together and thank goodness he was part of Strictly from the beginning, because without him, it would’ve been very different. He was just the perfect match for the show. He plays a very big role in the show being what it is I think.“
Watch or listen to Vanessa's drivetime show from Monday to Friday, 4-7pm, on TalkTV and Talk Radio.
