“I think it is essential to have an active and healthy lifestyle in later life. I have never been busier and never more active than I am now”


Young at heart


With his Strictly days behind him, TV presenter Len Goodman is still very much in the public eye and helping people get the most out of life


Len Goodman has been well known in ballroom dancing circles for decades, having won the British Championships in his late 20s. But it wasn’t until he reached the age of 60 that he became a household name because of his role as head judge on Strictly Come Dancing, first broadcast in 2004. Now 75, Goodman may have retired from Strictly, but he hasn’t retired from the limelight. Goodman grew up in Bethnal Green in London’s East End,


the son of an electrician. He left school at the age of 15 to become a welder, but started dancing at the age of 19. He lives with his wife Sue – who runs the couple’s Dartford ballroom dance school – in a converted Grade II-listed pub. Strictly changed his life, he says. But in July 2016


Goodman announced he was leaving the show, making his final appearance on the Christmas day special.


6 All About health Five years into his Strictly stint, he was diagnosed with


prostate cancer. Thankfully it was caught early during an annual check-up, and Goodman had surgery to remove the tumor. However he kept his condition to himself, and didn’t even tell his Strictly co-judges. In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Goodman said he


kept the operation a secret because he felt it wasn’t necessary to “blabber it out to everyone”. “I was obviously worried at the start,” he added. “We all


worry if we get something like this. You do feel a bit vulnerable, but as long as you come out the other side all right, why worry?” As a result of his experience, Goodman urges middle-aged


men to go for regular check-ups. “Men, probably more than women, tend to ignore their health,” he said. “Men of a certain age should have their check-up every year.”


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