https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbi...e-len-goodman/

Would be a great replacement for Len

Or, The Donald should be free for long term engagements next year....

BBC have spoken to quite a few ballroom and latin people and Gary is one of them

He is def qualified enough, from Essex but living between here and Miami he is a very busy judge - judging all over the world - great dancer in his day

known him since his junior days he and my brother were trained by same teacher - can remember him having to split with a partner cos he was too small - and then had a growing spurt and ending up at 6ft 4 hence his twitter name theballroomgiant

I would imagine that Gary's chances of becoming head judge have decreased rapidly if the Sun thinks it has a scoop on SCD.

Actually in one breath the headlines read it's Gary. Then further down the article they name the other contenders.- just to hedge their bets.

It may well not be Gary, but if it was someone from show why are the BBC talking to ballroom and Latin judges (they have spoken with several) ??? really think the BBC will opt for someone from the dance world whoever that might be

I certainly think they need at least one ballroom/Latin specialist.

Trump?

Some one get him a drink he is so thirsty for the attention. He and his son Retweet "everything". It has just turned me off him.

'The Donald' is one of his nicknames (one of the few that can be used in polite society.)

he is not like that at all he is a very friendly easy going guy very popular in the dance world his retweets are of everything he is interested in if you don't want to see them unfollow him - he doesnt need to seek attention - he gets plenty

I don't think we will know who is replacing Len till the BBC announce it!
All the names being bandied around are just supposition.
The only thing I would say is that I personally don't think it will be Anton.

Maybe they should use Len leaving to have a complete clear out and come up with a new judging panel.i would definitely love to see Bruno go as he is so annoying.
There should be more Ballroom dancing judges and they should also level it up to 2 women and 2 men on the panel as well. Would love to see Karen Hardy as a judge but she is so busy with her students don't think she'd have the time. It is interesting though that she is one of the judges on the live show next year.

Craig and Bruno are "fixtures," they'll be there as long as they want to be.
The BBC likes some continuity. As far as they are concerned, a case of, "if it ain't broke don't fix it."
Darcy, could be replaced, but only by another female. She presently fills the "we must have a woman on the judging panel" requirement. To me, she seems no more important to the show than was Alesha.

So it is possible that there will be two new faces next year, if the BBC want to "freshen up" the panel.

Hope it's Karen hardy. Think she'd be a great judge. So would Anton too

In what way does an epic combover qualify you for the highest office, I mean head judge?

I've found him very polite. He replied to a couple of tweets I sent to him about some old dance videos he posted.

He told me he has been in line for DWTS before now and said, tongue in cheek, that someone ought to put a good work in with the Producers of SCD as he would love to do it. He is good friends with Bruno, so perhaps Bruno will put in a good word.

never heard of him

Surely the Beeb aren't going to be offering him enough money if he's as big as everyone says.

Darcy's much more knowledgeable than Alesha, obviously given her dance credentials (albeit not ballroom/Latin, but still very qualified). Alesha always seemed to be winging it when giving critique. So from that perspective Darcy's contribution to the show is much more meaningful than Alesha's was IMO.

I read the thread title and thought...Who? I doubt I'm the only one. He may be extremely well qualified but in this celebrity obsessed world I can't see the BBC bringing in someone when most viewers have no idea who he is. Strictly is after all a family entertainment programme not a technical dancing show (however much some wish it was).

When show started besides Arlene Philips no one had heard of the panel then - it has to be someone with dance knowledge and BBC have spoken to a few not just Gary - of strictly related people on the show now - only Karen Hardy is a top rated judge still feel it willl be someone from the world of dance and not off the show

Bit different comparing 2004 with 2016. It's entirely different. Having someone already known to the Strictly audience in some form will ease the transistor next year post-Len.

To think, when Darcey guest judged for that short while, she was a reasonably well known name on her own anyway. This Gary guy isn't...

Agreed, but she's not irreplaceable, as she's not their primarily for her expertise.

My vote goes to Arlene Phillips who is funny, passionate and knows what she's talking about. Two women and two men would be a better combo although I wouldn't weep any tears to see Princess Darcey replaced