Darcey Bussell will miss "bossy" Len Goodman on the upcoming series of 'Strictly Come Dancing'.

Darcey Bussell

Darcey Bussell

The 47-year-old retired ballet dancer says Len will be sorely missed from the judging panel when the show returns later this year.

She said: "Strictly is going to really miss him. He is incredibly clever, ­brilliant at what he does. He's an institution. He has his own Len Goodman academy, totally successful at everything he does. It was a real pleasure to be with him ... Bossiest judge was Len, but it was his job to be bossy and so he should have been - but I don't know who would come in next."

It is currently not known who will be replacing Len as head judge on the show and Darcey played down rumours it could be Craig Revel Horwood.

Darcey added to the Sunday Mirror newspaper: "We don't have any idea what will happen and I know they're not going to tell us until the last minute. It's gone very quiet all of a sudden on the rumoured names front. I'm nervous - it's a good nervous, not bad nerves - but, yeah, I'm getting excited.

"Everyone is asking when it will be announced and I should think it will happen when they ­announce the celebrities ... I suppose maybe it would be Craig - but he's a bit of a producer now. He produces a lot behind the scenes. I've known Craig the longest so I'm probably naturally closest to him. He's choreographed a lot of work over the years and I have seen him doing that."

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