Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood became emotional while watching Graeme Hall and Lauren Oakley's Jive routine, saying it reminded him of the late Len Goodman, who died three years ago. On Saturday evening (October 10), the remaining 14 couples performed on the dance floor, hoping to impress the panel for another week.
During the show, viewers saw the "dogfather" Graeme Hall and his professional partner deliver an energetic Jive routine. When it came to the judges' critique, Craig made a poignant admission.
Craig's emotional tribute to Len Goodman
Craig told Graeme: "I felt like I was watching dear Len Goodman with the flatcap. It brought back some memories, I got a bit emosh darling through that. I'm not going to cry, don't worry."
Len served as head panellist on the BBC programme from its launch in 2004 until 2014, though he made his final appearance on the series in 2016. Tragically, Len passed away in 2023 aged 78 from bone cancer.
Graeme's own emotional moment
As Graeme headed upstairs to chat with Johannes Radebe, he also became emotional, revealing to the host he was "scared to death" of their routine midweek. He remarked: "I had a bit of a meltdown Wednesday. I didn't think I'd be doing that, but we did it." After gathering himself, he told Johannes he thoroughly enjoyed performing the dance with Lauren.
When the moment arrived for scores, all judges awarded him a six, while Anton Du Beke offered a marginally higher mark of seven, resulting in a combined total of 25 for their Jive performance.
Fans react to the Len Goodman comparison
Shortly afterwards, viewers flocked to X to share their thoughts on Craig's comparison between Graeme and Len, with many expressing agreement.
One viewer posted: "It's so funny Craig mentioned about Graeme looking like Len Goodman because I've been saying the exact same thing all evening, then thinking,' Don't be so ridiculous' #strictly #strictlycomedancing."
Another commented: "#Strictly #StrictlyComeDancing I love the fact that Len Goodman's legacy still lives on."
While a third added: "Aw, that did feel very Len Craig is absolutely right, Len would've loved Graeme I feel x." A further viewer remarked: "I miss Len Goodman too, Craig. #Strictly". While another posted: "Len would be proud of this one, forever proud of Lauren and Graeme."
Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturdays on BBC One from 6.15pm.
