‘Dancing With the Stars’ Judge Derek Hough Reveals Len Goodman’s Parting Gift to Him

Derek Hough is mourning the loss of his Dancing With the Stars co-star Len Goodman following the judge’s death on April 23 at the age of 78. Hough, 37, opened up about his memories of Goodman both as a judge and as a pro on the ABC dance competition during the latest episode of the Whine Down with Jana Kramer podcast, noting that the DWTS family was shocked to learn after his death that Goodman had been battling bone cancer. 

While Hough said he knew Goodman was “unwell” as the longtime judge decided to step down from DWTS just months before his death, “We didn’t certainly didn’t know the extent [of his illness] – we had no idea the extent – because this was a huge shock to all of us. And it’s incredibly sad.” Hough said in the aftermath of Goodman’s passing, there have been “countless tears and phone calls” in which he and his colleagues have shared “how much we just love the guy and how lucky we are and how lucky we were to spend as much time with him as we did.”

Goodman even gave Hough a memorable parting gift as he exited Dancing With the Stars in 2022. “I walked in my dressing room when there’s this giant picture of Len,” he remembered of their last day on set together. “It was framed, beautiful gold frame and it’s a picture of him and it had this handwritten message from him.” Hough added, “It was so beautiful, but also like, inappropriate humor. Like, funny. It was a hilarious thing he wrote as well. And it was signed by him… I was just so touched and moved by that. Just thinking how our lives were so intertwined.”

When it comes to his favorite memory with Goodman on Dancing With the Stars, Hough went all the way back to his years as a pro. “I mean, thinking back, there’s this video that we did with Nastia Liukin when I danced, and in there, he did this little package and he was saying … ‘Sometimes your body just starts to give up on you but I just still feel like that young old chap, you know, that dancer,’” he remembered. “And we did this sort of tribute to Len, and then he kind of took over and he danced.” Hough continued, “I just keep thinking back and some of these memories and these moments, and just thinking again, just how fortunate we were to have had him for so long on the show, at least, but he certainly went far too soon in life.”