Sir Bruce Forsyth accepted a 15 per cent pay cut to remain as the host of Strictly Come Dancing as part of a so-called “austerity” drive at the BBC two years ago.

Mandrake can disclose that the programme’s judges have, however, signed highly lucrative new deals this week, which include substantial pay increases.

We'd give Len Goodman’s body a “Seven” out of ten.

The Strictly Come Dancing judge, who also appears on the panel of US show Dancing With The Stars, stripped off for this wacky clip that was shown during the American programme.

What am I, Len Goodman, dancer and Strictly judge doing making a series about Titanic, you might ask?

Well, before I was a full-time dancer, I was a full-time welder. It was the early 1960s, and I was working for Harland & Wolff at their shipyard in east London.

Dancing With The Stars judge Len Goodman has high hopes for Katherine Jenkins in the new series of the US show - but insists he won't be showing any bias in favour of his fellow Brit.

The Welsh mezzo-soprano is competing against stars such as soul legend Gladys Knight, singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw and tennis player Martina Navratilova for the prized glitterball trophy.

Strictly Come Dancing head judge Len Goodman is to present a new three-part BBC series about the Titanic.

Titanic with Len Goodman follows the ballroom legend as he travels to Belfast and Southampton and discovers the stories of victims and survivors. Prior to his dance career, Goodman worked as a welder in Titanic builders Harland and Woolf's East London yard.

Len Goodman has vowed he will never defect from Strictly Come Dancing, unlike Alesha Dixon - and will stick with the series until the BBC tire of him.

The judge, who saw his fellow panellist poached by Simon Cowell to join ITV1's Britain's Got Talent, insists he cannot be lured away. Len - also a judge on US show Dancing With The Stars - said: "I'm going to keep pressing on with it until they get fed up with me."

Strictly judge Len Goodman terrifies the show's celebrity contestants with his putdowns — but admits he met his match in Nancy Dell'Olio.

Len, currently foxtrotting around the UK on the Strictly tour, also admits he loves winding up fellow judges Bruno Tonioli and Craig Revel Horwood. He said: "I was scared of Nancy to start with, but when you talk to her she's good as gold. Her dancing isn't any better, though — we see her same routine over and over. But it's so much fun."

Len Goodman thinks Kara Tointon would be "great" on the 'Strictly Come Dancing' judging panel. The 67-year-old star - who is joined on the BBC One show by Craig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli - thinks the former 'Strictly' winner could bring a "different dynamic" to the series if she takes over from Alesha Dixon after she defected to rival ITV1 show 'Britain's Got Talent'.

He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "I think she would be great. We've all got our roles to play and myself, Bruno and Craig have all got strong personalities and different fields of expertise. To get somebody who is an ex-competitor does bring a different dynamic to the thing.

Len Goodman has blasted Simon Cowell for poaching Alesha Dixon, and declared: "Shame on you." The Strictly Come Dancing judge branded the media mogul's actions "spiteful" after Simon said he brought Alesha to Britain's Got Talent to hurt his dance rival.

Len - who is an acquaintance of the talent show boss - told Radio 5 Live that he was "disappointed" in Simon if that was his motivation. And he accused him of spoiling the pleasure of millions of viewers.

An Isle of Wight theatre is hoping a guest pantomime appearance by a Strictly Come Dancing judge will help to boost its fortunes.

Len Goodman recorded video clips in November to be played during Cinderella at the volunteer-run Shanklin Theatre. Panto director Jayne Morris said: "We're hoping Len helps save the day and we can keep the theatre open."

It has already attracted more headlines for its increasingly risqué outfits and routines than its dancing, but Strictly Come Dancing's stunts even appear to be testing the temper of head judge Len Goodman.

The television and publishing industries were in a state of panic last night as the first deaths due to people being offended were reported.

A TV insider told us, “It used to be the case that programme makers thought, ‘So what if viewers are offended sometimes? They’re not going to die from it, are they? Just change the channel and get on with your life!’ But now, with this news, everything has changed. The whole media is running scared.”

Chief judge Len Goodman been criticised by fans for calling Craig Revel Horwood a "little s*d" on Saturday.

Len, 67, apologised for his pre-watershed remark, made during a row over Harry Judd's Argentine tango

This was comeback week on Strictly. Brendan Cole returned from his elimination last week to stand in for the injured Artem Chigvintsev and dance with Holly Valance.

And Len Goodman came back from his week off Strictly in America, which apparently did him no good at all. Alas for boxer Audley Harrison, it was knock-out time as he and partner Natalie Lowe became the sixth couple to be voted off. But he didn’t go without a fight – or rather without starting one.

We may have missed seeing Len Goodman on last week’s Strictly Come Dancing panel line-up when he was away in the US. But our American cousins got to see all they could wish of the 67-year-old judge. He appeared dancing, apparently naked, beside a Los Angeles swimming pool, his modesty protected only by a computer-generated glitter ball.

Normally bow-tied, Len bared all as he filmed a spoof for the US version of the show, Dancing With The Stars.It seems Len has softened his views since he criticised the 19-year-old daughter, Bristol, of US politician Sarah Palin for her “overly sexy” rumba on the US show in 2010.

"Maksgate." That's what ousted celebrity dancer Carson Kressley is calling the dust-up Monday night between pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy and two of the three Dancing With the Stars judges."I do understand," says Kressley, "because you work really, really hard, and then you get some scores that you don't agree with and you just want to claw everyone's eyes out.

"In this case, the overheated argument started after Chmerkovskiy and his partner, soccer star Hope Solo, finished their rumba. Head judge Len Goodman, again feeling that Solo hadn't fulfilled her potential, called it their "worst dance of the whole season."

Furious Strictly judge Len Goodman has ordered show producers to rein in mouthy dancer James Jordan after the pair repeatedly clashed on Saturday night.

At one stage Len — livid at James's backchat during the show — snapped, telling him: "All you have to do is turn up, keep up and shut up." Tension had been building between the feisty dancer and the judges after previous run-ins, but it finally exploded on Saturday night.

Strictly Come Dancing had a bitter bust up of its own – with pro dancer James Jordan furious after Craig Revel Horwood said his partner Alex Jones was “sexless, cold and stiff”. When James, 33, replied the public seemed to like their dance, Len Goodman added: “We are here and we spend a lifetime watching and teaching and judging dancing.

Our criteria are different to the public.” Alex led James upstairs where he lashed out, saying: “It would be nice if the judges stopped commenting on our choreography, ’cos also we have been in the business a long, long time. We know what we are doing.”

Strictly favourite Arlene Phillips will not be waltzing back to the show when head judge Len Goodman takes a break.

Beeb bosses have dashed the hopes of her fans who wanted to see the choreographer return to fill in for Len, who needs a week’s rest from doing both Strictly’s US version and the British series.