Shirley Ballas breaks down in tears over Len Goodman’s death on Loose Women as she reveals the last time she saw him

SHIRLEY Ballas was moved to tears on Loose Women today as she joined the show to discuss her close friendship with Len Goodman.

The Strictly head judge revealed she first met Len as a child and he had trained in the ballroom world, and went on to be known as “Uncle Len” to her son Mark.

Shirley, 62, paid tribute to Len after the professional dancer and her predecessor on Strictly had been diagnosed with bone cancer and died on Saturday night aged 78.

She spoke about Dancing With the Stars judge Len going on to be a mentor for Mark, who is also a professional dancer on the US version of Strictly.

She said: “Mark started on DWTS when he was 21 years old, and he’s known Len since he was a baby. And he would say ‘uncle Len!’ and Len would say ‘it’s Len, Mark, the adjudicator.’

“I went to see the launch show last year when Mark decided to do Dancing With the Stars and I saw Len there and I got my last and final cuddle with him there.

“Even thought he had got quite frail I thought he was still full humour, he liked a cuddle, that smile was just piercing.

“I kind of felt he didn’t look the best that I had seen him, as did a lot of people in our industry. We kind of knew, but we’re close quartered, we don’t put it out there, we protect our own.”

Shirley became tearful when she added: “He was a fun guy. He was extraordinary.

“He will be greatly missed. In every step of these series on Strictly I will be thinking about him.”

Len began dancing at 19, winning various competitions including the British Championships in Blackpool in his late 20s, after which he retired.

He also served as head judge on Dancing With The Stars, the US version of the show, for more than 15 years until announcing his retirement in November last year.

He said at the time that he wanted to “spend more time with my grandchildren and family” back in the UK.