Derek Hough will return to Dancing With The Stars for Season 32, but that's not all he'll be up to when the dancing competition returns. The celebrity judge is taking his show on the road and will be performing Derek Hough – All New Spectacular Symphony Of Dance in various cities as the season goes on. Hough has a good many things planned for his upcoming stage show, including a tribute to his former colleague, the late Len Goodman.
Dancing With The Stars will return to ABC in addition to those with a Disney+ subscription for Season 32. Derek Hough will resume his duties as a judge and will be joined by his sister, Julianne Hough, who has replaced Tyra Banks as co-host. Len Goodman is, of course, not part of the season but will be honored on Hough's stage show. Hough spoke about Goodman to TV Insider and how he wished to bring his energy to the show:
Len had the most beautiful heart. He really did. I’m thinking about a moment on the show that I want to dedicate to Len. I’m trying to select the right song. The feeling I get when I think about Len is doing a pure and classic waltz or foxtrot. ‘No fussing about!’ ‘No lollygagging!’ That’s what I want to do. I want to honor him by bringing the history of dance into the future and to never lose the history of where dance came from. Dancing will evolve and change but it’s important that we always bring that history with us.
Len Goodman represented the old-school mentality of ballroom dancing on Dancing With The Stars, and it seems like Derek Hough will want to represent that in his stage show. The professional dancer seemed to stress the importance of remembering the history of dancing and the era of it that Goodman represented.
Dancing With The Stars said goodbye to Len Goodman when he announced his retirement toward the end of Season 31. Goodman, who had been with the series for the bulk of its run, explained that he wished to return to Great Britain, where he could spend more time with his family and grandchildren.
Len Goodman ultimately passed away from bone cancer months later, just one day before his seventy-ninth birthday. Many in the Dancing With The Stars community paid tribute to Goodman and spoke of the influence he had on dancing with his career.
Now, following Goodman's death, it seems the pressure is on even more for the series to find a replacement for the judge, who was known to be a stickler for scoring technique more so than his colleagues. Derek Hough addressed if maybe he could be the judge that filled the void left by Goodman and hinted at potential solutions for replacing the former judge:
Nobody will ever be able to replace Len. He was so witty and funny. As far as me focusing more on the technique and the quality, the things that he focused on…yeah. I think that it’s important that somebody on the panel does focus on those things a little bit more. With my background and my training in ballroom and Latin, I feel that could be something I could communicate. I can focus on the more technical aspects. I’ll never want to be something I’m not. What’s authentic to me is genuinely wanting couples to improve. I want to encourage them through honesty. I really envision that the three of us [Carrie Ann, Bruno, and myself] will have some guest judges, which will be nice. Sometimes having that outside perspective can be fun. It’ll make it feel different. We’ll see what happens.
It doesn't sound like Derek Hough wants to switch up his judging style too much, but incoming celebrity judges could fill the currently vacant fourth judges slot. There's no shortage of former dancing pros who could return to offer their input. Cheryl Burke appears to be beloved by her colleagues and would be a natural fit should she choose to return so soon after leaving. As Hough said, we can only wait and see what happens when it comes to any new judges.
Dancing With The Stars will return in September on both ABC and Disney+. This upcoming season should be one to remember, though we'll have to wait and see who is involved to see just how excited audiences will be to see people back out on the dance floor.
