‘Dancing With The Stars’ head judge Len Goodman announces his retirement from the show

Len Goodman announced his retirement from Dancing with the Stars. He shared the news with PEOPLE and said, “I have had a wonderful run of good fortune and cannot thank everyone enough who assisted me along the way.”

The head judge is officially retiring from his role on the Disney+ dance competition series, which he confirmed through PEOPLE and he also shared the news during a recent episode of DWTS, while he received a standing ovation from the audience.

“”Doing a live show you have to be at the top of your game and quick to react. And as one gets older, then things start to get more challenging,” he tells PEOPLE. “I haven’t fallen asleep or started dribbling yet on the show, so I thought it’s best to go before I start to do so!”

He continued,

“He will miss the California sunshine, working with his fellow judges, and the camaraderie with everyone on the show,” he adds. “I’ll miss seeing the celebrities developing into dancers and I will miss being part of one of the most successful shows on TV.”

Goodman is a professional ballroom dancer from England. He joined DWTS as a head judge during the first season. Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli, have joined Goodman, who have continued to judge the show for 31 seasons.

Dancing with the Stars is one of the most popular American dance competition television series, which is the U.S. version of the UK series Strictly Come Dancing. The show is narrated by Alan Dedicoat and it has been produced by BBC Studios Los Angeles. As of now, Dancing with the Stars has a total of 31 seasons, which have been judged by Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, Julianne Hough, and Derek Hough. Len Goodman is called the soul of the show. Dancing with the Stars airs live on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on Disney+.