Anton Du Beke broke down on stage as he paid tribute to his friend and mentor Len Goodman.
Du Beke sobbed on Monday as he performed a Slow Foxtrot in the late Strictly star’s honour.
During his show, An Evening with Anton Du Beke, the tearful Strictly Come Dancing professional turned judge, told the audience: “He is the benchmark for all the judges.
“I have been like this all day, a disaster. My old pal, Lord Len Goodman. We love you, Len.
“I have always tried to take his advice, which is, ‘Be yourself and say what you see.’”
The 56-year-old, who was at the Corn Exchange Theatre in King’s Lynn, Cambs, added: “I have known him for 40 years as a man, as a boy. I remember him judging me as a young boy,” Du Beke said of his longtime friend.
“I would value his comments above everyone else because he knew exactly what I wanted to do,” he continued.
“I was lucky to have known him for 40 years. He was a great friend.”
Du Beke, who was being interviewed by Alex Jones, who also became tearful, also said the pair would spend “hours chatting and laughing” before admitting, “I miss him.”
"He was funny and brilliant and interesting"
— BBC The One Show (@BBCTheOneShow) April 24, 2023
Anton Du Beke pays a heartfelt tribute to former Strictly Come Dancing head judge Len Goodman who has sadly died 🧡#TheOneShow 👉 https://t.co/GdKwGTPpWE pic.twitter.com/sCjkMeyhY3
Goodman, who was Strictly’s head judge from 2004 to 2016, suffered from bone cancer and died on Saturday at age 78.
He reportedly left his Dancing With The Stars co-stars shocked by his passing as he kept his diagnosis under wraps during filming.
A source told The US Sun: “The news about Len caught many of the production team by surprise.
“There was an enormous feeling of sadness and grief because Len had brought so much fun and joy to the show, as well as being a perfect professional.
“Last Fall, Len was certainly less of a presence around and while he looked thin, that frailty was just thought of as him getting older. Obviously, now the suggestion is that he was dealing with something very aggressive and keeping it to himself.”
The Standard contacted a Dancing With the Stars rep for comment.
His bone cancer diagnosis was not his first experience of the disease. Goodman was diagnosed with prostate cancer in March 2009.
And in September 2021 it was reported that he had undergone surgery for a small facial melanoma.
