We were as shocked as you when dance judge veteran Len Goodman packed up and left Strictly Come Dancing in 2016.
But it’s only now that he’s explained his real reasons for leaving, and guess what? We reckon, with a bit of a nudge, he could easily find his way back behind the judging bench.
Chatting to Lorraine Kelly on her ITV show on Wednesday, Len explained that the main reason he left the show was that he couldn’t keep flying back and forth between the UK for Strictly and the US for Dancing With The Stars.
Read more: Did Len decide to return to Strictly before he’d even left?
“I couldn’t do the flying backwards and forwards,” the 73-year-old told Lorraine explaining that the only reason he continued to do the US dancing show was purely down to contracts.
“On Strictly your contract is annual, in America it’s different – I signed up for four. I’ve got one more show.”
Lorraine questioned Len on whether he was missing being part of Strictly, to which he replied immediately, “Yes course I am. There’s always a twang.”
He then continued to gush about the popular UK show saying that it “gave him everything”.
So, with one Dancing With The Stars show left to do in America and the fact that he clearly misses being part of the Strictly gang – could Len’s return be on the cards?
One person who might not be so enthused about the possibility of Len asking for his seat back is judge Shirley Ballas who took Len’s seat behind the bench.
Speaking about his replacement, Len said: “I think Shirley’s doing a wonderful job.
“It’s always difficult to step in and I’m sure there’s thousands of people that think ‘thank god that Len’s gone and we’ve got lovely Shirley.'”
And before he left, Len tipped people’s favourite Debbie McGee to win this year’s show.
Read more: Debbie McGee responds to Strictly love affair questioning
“I have no favourites, only because I have always wanted someone slightly older to do well and win it. For that reason I’d like Debbie McGee to win it,” he admitted.