Genes Reunited Blog
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Who Do You Think You Are? Len Goodman - Episode 9
Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman delves into his family history on this week's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? Will he uncover that dancing runs in his family? Here's a sneak peek at what we've found out.
Lennard Gordon Goodman was born in 1944 in Bethnal Green, East London. After an unfortunate football accident that damaged his foot, he took up dancing as part of his recovery and this is when he discovered a talent he never knew he had. By the time Len was 23 he became a professional in the field of ballroom dancing.
His family history is said to unearth that dancing does run in the family. He also discovers a poorer side of his Victorian ancestry that were sent to the workhouse, and his Polish grandfather and his arrival in Portsmouth in 1834.
We've found Len's paternal great-great-grandfather David Goodman:
We can see he's registered as a shoe maker. I wonder if this has anything to do with dancing as a profession in the family?
We've also found his paternal great-great-great-grandfather John Spanton who we can see is a Farrier (a shoeing smith for horses):
Dancing and shoeing? It seems Len's family have taken to professions that involved feet.
I'm quite looking forward to this episode! Don't forget to tune in to Who Do You Think You Are? tonight, BBC1 at 9pm.