Len Goodman has promised that he will never quit Strictly Come Dancing and claimed that he owed the BBC his loyalty to the reality programme.
The veteran dance teacher said that he would remain on the panel for as long as the broadcaster didn't "get fed up with me", and insisted that his heavy workload with Strictly and the US series Dancing with the Stars wasn't too much for him.
"I have no intention of stopping or slowing down. I'm in a position where I could do that, but once I stop I know what would happen, I'd be sitting indoors on a Saturday night watching Strictly Come Dancing and I'd be thinking, 'That's a bloody stupid thing to say' and thinking, 'I wish I'd kept going'," he told The Mirror.
Goodman, 67, also dismissed reports that the Strictly judges were unhappy with their pay.
"But if they give me more, I'm not going to say no to it," he joked.
Commenting on Alesha Dixon's departure to ITV1 to judge Britain's Got Talent, he added: "The BBC were wonderful - they didn't know who I was really, I'm just a dance teacher.
"They gave me an opportunity to do Strictly Come Dancing, which was a life-changing event really, and I think that they deserve my loyalty, and my loyalty is what they will get."
The BBC are expected to announce a replacement for Alesha Dixon on Strictly during the summer. Karen Hardy, Kara Tointon and Darcey Bussell are among the stars tipped to be in the running.
