The new season of ABC's Dancing With the Stars will be without its grumpy yet lovable head judge.

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Len Goodman will not be returning to Dancing With the Stars next season as a judge, according to DWTS show runner Rob Wade. He released a statement via Glamour about Goodman not coming back this fall:

"Len will not be returning as a judge this season on Dancing With the Stars due to his schedule as a judge on Strictly Come Dancing in the U.K. and the birth of his new grandson," Wade said. "He still might be involved in the season at some capacity, but we will have to wait and see. We are planning on having great guest judges for some shows to join Bruno [Tonioli], Carrie Ann [Inaba], and Julianne [Hough], and I'm sure we will see Len in the ballroom again soon."

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Many Dancing With the Stars fans saw this coming, considering he's taken several weeks off over the past few seasons.

The news of Goodman's departure means that the show may be going back to having three permanent judges. The show featured Goodman, Inaba and Tonioli for 18 consecutive seasons until Hough joined as a fourth judge for season 19. For now, as Wade said, the show will go on with Inaba, Tonioli and Hough as the permanent judges.

But fans of Goodman should not worry, as Wade said there might be a way of featuring him in the new season. Perhaps he could be an advisor for a week? Only time will tell.

For now, DWTS fans are waiting for the celebrity cast to be announced on Sept. 2.

Dancing With the Stars season 21 premieres Monday, Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

Tags: Dancing with the Stars Reality TV ABC