'He just made everyone smile!': DWTS' Samantha Harris shares her favourite memory of Len Goodman
Samantha Harris has recalled how Len Goodman could make "anyone smile" after her time on the Australian version of 'Dancing with the Stars' in 2015.
Samantha Harris has recalled how Len Goodman could make "anyone smile."
The 32-year-old model has 15-year-old Josselyn with husband Luke Hunt and they were expecting now-seven-year-old Hillary when she was competing on the Australian version of 'Dancing with the Stars' in 2015 and after learning of the death of judge Len Goodman - who passed away on Saturday (22.024.23) following a secret battle with bone cancer aged 78 - remembered how he would "always" visit her dressing room and entertain her eldest.
She told ExtraTV: "My fondest memory of Len was… I was pregnant on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ with my oldest daughter, who's now 15, and so from birth until about a little over age two, she would come to visit me on set and sit on my lap during hair and makeup and he would walk past my dressing room and without fail, he would always poke his head in and he would make my toddler light up so. He had that magnetic personality that could make anyone of any age happy and smile.
"That's what I'll take, as I think of him hopefully dancing the heck out of heaven."
Samantha - who was eliminated third of the 15th season of the show eventually won by TV and radio host Emma Freedman - added that she "cannot help but smile" when she thinks of the legendary ballroom dancer and explained that Len was a key factor in the 'Dancing with the Stars' franchise around the globe.
She added: "I mean, I can't help but smile when I even just hear his name — he had that incredible high-wattage smile that lit up every single room despite whether or not he was onstage, backstage, at home, everywhere he went. It definitely made for those fun moments on the show… He was always a stickler for precise, you know, really focused work, and so what I loved about Len as just a judge on a professional standpoint was that, first of all, he always kept things positive, and as a positive person myself I appreciated that about him.
"He didn't want to cut people down just to cut them down, and I think that's what made the show work so well and what made him such a success both on our ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ over in the UK.”
