Goodman: 'Let's move on from race row'

Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman has said that Anton Du Beke should keep his job on the programme.

Viewers complained to the BBC recently when it emerged that Du Beke had described his dance partner Laila Rouass as a "P**i". However, Goodman defended the dancer.

"Anton says one word and people want to crucify him," he told The Mirror. "I just don't understand that. You get to the point where you're paranoid about opening your mouth in case you're offending people.

"I've never felt offended when my mates are taking the mickey out of the length of my nose."

He continued: "Why should Anton go? Why? He's been fantastic in seven series of Strictly. An absolute star. The thing is, as far as I'm concerned, he's apologised, she's said, 'You're forgiven'. Let's draw the line under it."

Goodman also defended the show's host Bruce Forsyth, who recently said that Du Beke's comment would have been found amusing a few years ago.

"You try and come to someone's defence and you end up making the situation worse," Goodman said. "The trouble is a certain age group. If you go back 40 or 50 years, as he is, there wasn't so much political correctness in the world. There wasn't.

"Things have become taboo, which I understand and I'm not trying to say what Anton did was correct - it wasn't. But I do understand things were different in those days."