Dancing with the Stars judge Len Goodman is denying he is leaving Strictly Come Dancing, the original British edition of the hit ABC reality dance competition.
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Goodman denied that he would be leaving his judging role on the BBC show during an appearance on It Takes Two, a companion show that airs on the BBC's BBC2 network, the U.K.'s Digital Spy entertainment news website reported Tuesday.
"I will be doing the next [season]. If the BBC asks me to do it, of course I'll do it," Goodman reportedly told It Takes Two host Claudia Winkleman after being asked if he planned to quit the show.
Winkleman's question came after the 64-year-old judge had made comments that he had grown weary of joining fellow Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing with the Stars judge Bruno Tonioli in flying back and forth between London and Los Angeles to judge both shows, which have aired in parallel during the last three fall television seasons. (Unlike ABC, the BBC only airs one Strictly Come Dancing edition a year.)
"The jet-lag takes it toll," Goodman told the U.K.'s News of the World newspaper in a Sunday report.
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"I wasn't going to do it this year -- the flying backwards and forwards -- but I got talked into it again," he continued. "But this will probably be the last time. I'll have to make the decision -- if they ask me -- whether to do the British show or American show."
"My heart wants to do the British show but my head -- the money -- makes me want to do the American one," he added.
Goodman is allegedly being paid 90,000 British pounds -- about $150,000 -- to judge Strictly Come Dancing, however that pales in comparison to the 250,000 pounds -- about $417,000 -- he receives for judging Dancing with the Stars, according to the News of the World.
Earlier this season, Dancing with the Stars aired a segment that spotlighted Goodman and Tonioli's hectic travel schedule.
"Every week, we film two episodes in the U.S. and two episodes in the U.K., it's madness," Tonioli explained. "On Mondays in the U.S., we do the main show and on Tuesdays, the results show [and then] we're in the car, get to the airport, and sleep [on the 11-hour flight] to London."
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After arriving in the U.K. on Wednesday afternoon, Goodman and Tonioli remain there until Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturday night, after which they fly back to Los Angeles and arrive on Sunday afternoon.
"Len is the only one that knows what we're going through, nobody else has any idea what it takes," Tonioli said during the segment.
"Of course I get tired. I'm not on U.K. time, I'm not on U.S. time -- I'm on 'Goodman time,'" Goodman said in the segment. "People said to me 'Why do you do all that flying back and forth?' and I say 'Because I love to be a part of this show,' and to just be allowed to be a part of that -- even a small part -- is wonderful."
Goodman's denial comes at the same time as a Dancing with the Stars announcement that -- for the first time since the show began -- Goodman will not serve as a judge for next week's performance round.
"We promised you a season of surprises and we are delivering, next week... a world-famous guest judge will sit-in for Len," Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron told viewers during Monday's performance episode. "We're giving him some time off to rest."
About The Author: John Bracchitta