"Dancing With the Stars" resident judge Len Goodman earlier announced that the upcoming season 20 of the popular reality dance show will be his last, but a top executive of the show claims otherwise.
"DWTS" executive producer Rob Wade told E! News that the British ballroom expert will still join the show beyond season 20. This is contrary to the statement Goodman dropped during an interview with Digital Spy a month ago, saying that his 20 seasons with the show in 10 years is enough. Wade explained Goodman's answer, saying that the celebrity judge was exhausted and thinking about his sick mother when he was asked that question.
"He was tired and he felt bad about being away, he was exhausted ... I had a lot of conversations before the last season about it ... When he had the interview, he was like, 'Season 20 is a good place to end,' because I think what Len felt was, since he's such a good guy, he felt like if he went away for a season, we wouldn't [want] him back," the executive producer said.
However, Wade admitted that though Goodman will come back for "DWTS" season 21, he is still not sure if he will be back as a full-time judge or will instead do small participations in the show.
"I don't know how we'd use him, but he's very open to it. I spoke to Len two days ago. And then for Season 22, the spring, he's very up for coming back. And if we can come to an agreement, he absolutely wants to come back," Wade said.
Goodman has been a part of the long-running celebrity dance-off series since 2014.
Meanwhile, another long-time "DWTS" castmember will be sidelined for the show's 20th season. Derek Hough, the record holding dance pro with the most number of wins in the series, announced that he will not be back next season to give way to a very important gig at the Radio City Music Hall as the male lead in "New York Spring Spectacular."
"Dancing With the Stars" season 20 airs on Monday, March 16.
