{"title":"Len Goodman","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"better-late-than-never-book-len-goodman-9780091928032","title":"Better Late Than Never","description":"Better Late Than Never is the extraordinary true story of how a man born into poverty in London's East End went on to find stardom late in life when he was chosen to be head judge on BBC1's Strictly Come Dancing. Len Goodman tells all about his new-found fame, his experiences on Strictly Come Dancing, and also on the no.1 US show Dancing with the Stars and his encounters with the likes of Heather Mills-McCartney and John Sergeant.   But the real story is in his East End roots. And Len's early life couldn't be more East End. The son of a Bethnal Green costermonger he spent his formative years running the fruit and veg barrow and being bathed at night in the same water Nan used to cook the beetroot. There are echoes of Billy Elliot too. Though Len was a welder in the London Docks, he dreamt of being a professional footballer, and came close to making the grade had he not broken his foot on Hackney Marshes. The doctor recommended ballroom dancing as a light aid to his recovery. And Len, it turned out, was a natural. At first his family and work mates mocked, but soon he had made the final of a national competition and the welders descended en masse to the Albert Hall to cheer him on. With his dance partner, and then wife Cheryl, Len won the British Championships in his late twenties and ballroom dancing became his life.   Funny and heart-warming, Len Goodman's autobiography has all the honest East End charm of Tommy Steele, Mike Read or Roberta Taylor.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49506384707857,"sku":"GOR001414156","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49727992070417,"sku":"NGR9780091928032","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50344516092177,"sku":"CIN0091928036G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51394488107281,"sku":"GOR001565266","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0091928036.jpg?v=1751388212"},{"product_id":"better-late-than-never-my-story-large-print-book-len-goodman-9781858789644","title":"Better Late Than Never: My Story [Large Print]","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49511937605905,"sku":"GOR002813882","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52153794822417,"sku":"GOR008114298","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1858789648.jpg?v=1751186340"},{"product_id":"len-goodman-s-lost-london-book-len-goodman-9781908695581","title":"Len Goodman's Lost London","description":"I was almost born within the sound of Bow Bells, nearly born in Wales, but ended up being born in Kent. But never mind all that, I'm a Londoner, through and through. I spent my early childhood in Bethnal Green and even when we moved to live across the other side of the Thames I spent as much time as I could in the East End. I worked on the docks in London, played football all over London and once I took up dancing I was forever travelling around London. Like every person my age I'm nostalgic for what's no longer around. Don't get me wrong I don't think it was all much better in the ol' days, but it does get on my wick when some of the best things about life before the internet are in danger of being forgotten. What do I miss? Well I think lots of kids miss doing all the things we could do when I was growing up. I miss the characters, the markets, how we made our own fun and once I was old enough, the old boozers or a trip up the wild West End for a real night out. I love walking around London, seeing what's changed. I remember where buildings or even whole streets used to be, the old markets, like Covent Garden and Spitalfields, where I used to go dancing above Burton's The Tailors or down the Palais. My book will give me the chance to take you back to the London I remember as a kid, as a teenager and as a young man about town. Remembering all that was great about London will help bring back some of the good times that we had back in the last century.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49533951934737,"sku":"GOR005401329","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50402620244241,"sku":"CIN1908695587G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51540937572625,"sku":"GOR006053821","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1908695587.jpg?v=1751028774"},{"product_id":"len-goodman-s-dancing-around-britain-book-len-goodman-9781908695918","title":"Len Goodman's Dancing Around Britain","description":"Len sweeps us off our feet and waltzes through time to revel in the delights of Britain's romantic dance hall days.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49589482520849,"sku":"GOR006409785","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50402621194513,"sku":"CIN1908695919G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53194780049681,"sku":"GOR006616549","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1908695919.jpg?v=1750803293"},{"product_id":"better-late-than-never-my-story-rare-book-len-goodman-1740743560mep","title":"Better Late Than Never: My Story","description":"2008. Second Printing. 320 pages. Signed by the author. Pictorial dust jacket over black cloth boards. Gilt lettering. Contains black and white and colour plates. Flat signed by author to title page.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51308791660817,"sku":"1740743560MEP","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1740743560MEP_1.jpg?v=1741944556"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-au\/collections\/author-books-by-len-goodman.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}