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Dancing With the Stars<\/em><\/a> kicked off season 32 on Tuesday, and co-hosts <\/span>Alfonso Ribeiro<\/a> and <\/span>Julianne Hough<\/a>\u00a0started things off with a touching tribute to <\/span>late judge Len Goodman<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n “Now, we’re obviously missing a big part of our <\/span>Dancing With the Stars <\/span><\/em>family tonight,” Ribeiro shared. “Of course, I’m talking about head judge Len Goodman, who passed away earlier this year.”<\/span><\/p>\n “Len was on this panel for nearly all of our 31 seasons. And although he is irreplaceable, we wanted to keep his spirit alive,” Hough shared.<\/span><\/p>\n “And that’s why, as a tribute to him, we redesigned and renamed our ultimate prize,” Ribeiro added, introducing the newly renamed Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.<\/span><\/p>\n “It is so fantastic that Len will always be going forward with us,” Hough said, before teasing a “spectacular tribute to Len” coming in a few weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n The beloved judge and former professional dancer <\/span>died on<\/a>\u00a0April 22, 2023, after\u00a0privately battling bone cancer. He was 78.<\/span><\/p>\n In a recent interview earlier this month, <\/span>DWTS<\/span><\/em> executive producer Conrad Green shared that the coveted mirrorball trophy had been renamed in Goodman’s honor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “The Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy will now be lifted on <\/span>Dancing With the Stars<\/span><\/em> like the Vince Lombardi trophy is lifted at the Super Bowl,” Green tells <\/span>USA Today<\/em><\/a>. “We wanted to make Len a permanent part of this show, to always remind people the importance he’s had to <\/span>Dancing With the Stars<\/span><\/em> and how much he meant to all of us.”<\/span><\/p>\n “Len loves this show and will always be there, looking down on us,” the producer shares.<\/span><\/p>\n Goodman’s influence on the long-running show was reiterated by past and present cast members alike.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Former <\/span>Dancing With the Stars<\/span><\/em> host <\/span>Tom Bergeron told ET<\/a>, “No disrespect to Bruno [Tonioli], Carrie Ann [Inaba], Derek [Hough], or Julianne [Hough] back to when she was a judge, but I think they too would agree that it was Len’s critique and opinion that everybody valued most.”<\/span><\/p>\n Goodman appeared as a judge on\u00a0<\/span>DWTS<\/span><\/i>\u00a0from 2005 until 2022. He also served as a founding judge on the British dance competition,\u00a0<\/span>Strictly Come Dancing<\/span><\/i>, from 2004 to 2016. He\u00a0<\/span>announced his retirement from\u00a0DWTS<\/i>\u00a0<\/a>in November 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n Goodman was a former dancer himself, winning the British Championships in his 20s before ending his dancing career to become a professional judge.<\/span><\/p>\n RELATED CONTENT:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n