It's A Wonderful Life: How Len Goodman said the perfect farewell to Strictly Come Dancing
Head judge Len beamed with joy all the way through the group dance
Most leaving parties involve an oversized goodbye card, an awkward speech and then a few drinks down the pub. But when you've been the head judge on Strictly Come Dancing for 14 series, you get a bit more of a spectacular send-off.
Len Goodman marked his final episode of Strictly with a special group dance titled It's A Wonderful Life – and despite being 72, he clearly still has the moves.
The number started with Len walking through the door with a big ol' grin on his face, to find fellow judges Darcey Bussell, Craig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli, as well as Christmas special guests Ainsley Harriott and pro dancer Karen Clifton.
Look at those acting skills! Perhaps Len missed his true calling.
Then – BAM! – it was straight into Kelly Clarkson's Christmas anthem Underneath The Tree, and Len was loving his tinsel scarf.
He was also loving the camera.
Next came one of the sweetest bits, and something that embodies what's at the heart of Strictly's success: it stretches across the generations.
Len paired up with professional dancer Chloe Hewitt, who is more than half a century younger than him. She's 21, and when Strictly launched she was only nine years old.
They did this happy little dance together:
But all good things must come to an end, just like Len's time as Strictly Come Dancing head judge. Having had a whale of a time with the judges, the pro dancers and the Christmas special guests, he ended with Darcey in his arms.
It was unclear which of them was the happiest about this.
Len has the kind of joy you just can't fake, and we give him major credit for going all-in and taking to the dance floor for the final episode. It's one of the se-VEN! reasons we'll miss him lots. Look at that little gleeful face.
Finally, it was time to say....
How's that for a send-off?
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