Dancing with the Stars judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, and Bruno Tonioli© Getty Images

DWTS judge breaks silence following big shake-up after Len Goodman's death

The former star of The Talk opened up about the change

Ahad Sanwari - New York
Senior WriterNew York
May 23, 2023

Dancing with the Stars is gearing up for an emotional upcoming 32nd season, as not only does the show return to its home of ABC, but it also will move forward with only three judges.

Back in April, the show's head judge Len Goodman passed away at the age of 78 after announcing that he would be retiring from the show at the season 31 semi-finals.

WATCH: Len Goodman reveals he is leaving DWTS

One of his close friends and fellow judge on the show, Carrie Ann Inaba, returned to social media after a brief absence to share her thoughts on all the shake-ups the show has experienced recently.

"It's been a while…I hope you are well," the former dancer, 55, wrote alongside a reel of some of her favorite moments from the show.

"Been thinking about @dancingwiththestars," she continued. "And I'm so pleased that we are back on @abcnetwork along with @disneyplus. 

"This allows for even more people to have access to our show and it allows the people who have been watch us from the beginning to continue watching us again in the fall." 

Earlier in the month, it was announced that after a one-season move to stream exclusively on Disney+ (which was negatively received due to limited availability), the show moved back to ABC, its home of 16 years.

"I've taken some time off socials and work in general and it's given me a lot of time to reflect," Carrie Ann wrote. "And I just want to say it's an honor that after so many seasons, we are still growing and growing evolving with our #DWTS family." 

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Len Goodman passed away in April

She alluded to Goodman's passing by adding: "We have lost some of our loved ones along the way… but they will always be with us in the ballroom. 

"And if you are a part of our #family then you also know that we’ve gained a few new family members along the way. Congratulations to all the new dancing mamas and papas out there. How beautiful it is."

In 2023 alone, four DWTS pros have welcomed babies, those being Witney Carson, Lindsay Arnold, and married pros Jenna Johnson and Val Chmerkovskiy.

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Pro dancer Witney Carson welcomed her second child last week

While no official start date for the coming season has been announced yet, it is expected to return in the Fall, with the cast being announced a few weeks prior.

Carrie Ann will return as a judge, alongside Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough, with Alfonso Ribeiro stepping in as co-host for the second time along with former pro and judge Julianne Hough.

Derek, 37, spoke on the Whine Down with Jana Kramer podcast previously about how he and his co-stars had received the news of Goodman's passing.

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Julianne will re-enter DWTS as the co-host of season 32

In the aftermath of his death, Derek shared that there had been "countless tears and phone calls" among friends and colleagues, all expressing their love and appreciation for the late star. 

"We didn't certainly didn't know the extent [of his illness] — we had no idea the extent — because this was a huge shock to all of us," Derek told host Jana Kramer. "And it's incredibly sad."

Check out photos of some of the stars of Dancing with the Stars over the years below: 

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Host Tyra Banks on Dancing with the Stars

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