This year, receiving the mirrorball trophy will be extra special.
Dancing with the Stars has announced that the famed trophy will be renamed and redesigned in honor one of the longtime cornerstones of the competition show—the late judge Len Goodman.
“The Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy will now be lifted on Dancing With the Stars like the Vince Lombardi trophy is lifted at the Super Bowl,” executive producer Conrad Green told USA Today on Sept. 20. “We wanted to make Len a permanent part of this show, to always remind people the importance he’s had to Dancing With the Stars and how much he meant to all of us.”
Len passed away in April of this year at the age of 78 after privately battling bone cancer.
“It is with great sadness to announce that Len Goodman has passed away peacefully, aged 78,” Len’s rep said in an April 24 statement obtained by NBC News . “A much loved husband, father and grandfather who will be sorely missed by family, friends and all who knew him.”
