Have to say find him really rude, overmarks, likes everybody and just find him very irritating.

He was rude to Arlene and Bruno tonight, telling them to shutup, something he quite often does. He's constantly interrupting them. He wants to be Mr Nice Guy and plays up to the audience by saying things he thinks they want to hear. He's also quite crude sometimes. And he always overmarks. Its quite ridiculous. I would be quite happy to listen to Arlene and Craig a lot more. You know Len likes everybody and even if they're a rubbish dancer he'll give them an 8. Wish he'd be more honest - lets hear more from Craig and Arlene.

I am usually such a big fan of len but i got to say i think his favouritism is getting in the way now alot he used to be fair

I think he tries to look for the good in the dance and ends up overmarking them.

Well I'm glad he is rude to Arlene. She is very rude to others so lets she how she likes it.

Craig is my fave but like Len too...they make a good balance.

Totally loathe the stupid interruptions and waffling all over each other though - so quite enjoyed Len issuing a quick "Shut it!"

Bruno mildly irritates me. But hey you need someone you love to "hate", or in Bruno's case someone you enjoy frequently cringing at.

Der Chef says

I think after last year's incident he is still got a bit of a grudge against Mr Cole seems to be public enemy number one

Although I think his 8 was fair.

Overall his scores should be rescaled on a scale of 1-10 not 6-9

Ohhh Yeah

I LOVE Len!

I like Len. He is not rude, all the judges indulge in repartee, sometimes it works, sometimes not. He's a good egg.

I like Len too, at least he was fair with the marking tonight. Which is more than you can say for Craig (imo), mind you at least he was consistent - most were marked down .

The more times Len tells Arlene to shut up the better!

I like:
The way he finds the positive and gives some encouragement
The way he disses Arlene (why wouldn't you love that)

I dislike:
The lewd comments
The overmarking

I think he's the one judge who is fair and marks the couples on how they perform and gives the most encouragement.

The others are constantly carping - they're not professional dancers and should be encouraged because it is that encouragement that gives confidence and confidence will produce better performance.

I respect Len more than any of the others. I find him to be honest and fair - Think he's fab!

So its ok for Len to tell Arlene to shut up and interrupt her all the time, but if Arlene told Len to shut up you'd be writing complaining about her. Doesn't seem fair somehow. Poor Arlene, she can't seem to do anything right with some of you on here. I think she's the best judge by far - love her comments and put downs. At least she's honest. Not like Len - he just pretends to like everybody as he just wants to be seen as the good guy. He's a very false man.

He does that 'shut up - what with her on one side and him on the other' line every series.
Don't take it too serious - its only TV.

Hmmmm - I find him 'personally' (i.e. on the wright stuff) right wing and old fashioned - but on this show he seems more fair then the others. By that i mean that he's kind to people - however tonight his marks were way off - as were Arlene's and Brunos - low for Gabby, high for the others. Hers had SO much content and was so good. Craig is usually the fairest I find!

I like Len...

I think all the judges need to really learn to behave they are always talking over each other and not letting the other finish what they are talking about... I only have a problem with it when they are talking over the other one when they are making a valid point mostly Bruno ...

I think he and Craig balance themselves out quite nicely. Craig I think under marks slightly and Len over.

Len is also fairly good at giving constructive criticism without making it sound too soul destroying for the contestant.

Hello Mooonglow. I think we had this conversation last year. Len is OFTEN rude to Arlene and will cut her off every chance he gets. Personally I haven't had much time for him since his "airy fairy" comment about Colin Jackson in Series 3. He always favours blokes/alpha males (usually sports personalities who dance with all the elegance of elephants but thinks they should be applauded for having a go at "girlie" dancing) and mollycoddles underachievers on the show. Funnily enough though, I do tend to find myself agreeing with him on DWTS where Len is if not the "nasty" judge he is certainly the "stern" judge as he seems to be on a mission to eliminate the "American Smooth" aspect from the Ballroom dances.
As for Bruno, if I were Penny I woud be afraid as I'm beginning to detect just the merest whisper of favouritism towards Ian and Penny (altho I think I think it's more driven by Bruno fancying Ian than with any dancing that Penny is doing), and this is bad news as Bruno can turn the public against a celebrity with his crass overmarking.


Long live Craig and Arlene as judges. Fearless and opininiated!!!

I liked the way Len explained his 8 for Kelly. He had given Gabby a 9 - 1 for mistakes at the start of the show, and felt that Kelly's dance was the same. The other judges didn't seem to take anything off for Kelly's (Brendan's) mistakes.

Len was at my publisher last week - he's in talks about writing his autobiography.

I was going to say something similar. I think it's funny when he does it, and it's just all part of the squabbling judges scenario. Love the way Bruno gives his 'offended face' look afterwards.

Unless they would have given her 10s.

I like your post! Till last series I thought Len was really Mr Nice Guy. But since the way he treated Brendan last year (love or hate Brendan - no matter). He held it against Brendan throughout the whole series because of his early illegal lift. Silly Bruno was just as bad. Poor old Brendan has had two such sh*t horrible-looking partners before now that he had to something different to be noticed. It wasn't going to happen through the dancing with F and C. He didn't do these things with the divine Natasha and won't be doing them with Kelly. Because these girls are noticed in any case not only through their dancing but because of their good looks. Craig and Arlene are a bit personal sometimes in their criticism but I find they are more consistent in their marking. Also, they didn't keep penalising Brendan last year after he was already penalised for being silly. On ITT Len is odious! Why does he put out his arms, as if to welcome the world. As if he is a film star. I think Claudia is great with him. She doesn't even try to dance a step. I feel she is simply winding him up to make him look silly, which he does. Not a nice man.

Totally agree