The tribute instead featured a number of former dancers—including Maks Chmerkovskiy, Kym Johnson-Herjavec, Tony Dovolani, Anna Trebunskaya, Edyta Sliwinska, Karina Smirnoff, Louis van Amstel and Mark Ballas—who returned to the ballroom with a heartfelt performance of the waltz, set to one of Len’s favorite songs, Henry Mancini‘s “Moon River.”
The longtime judge passed away in April from cancer, six months after retiring from the show.
Before the moving performance, the dancers and others involved with DWTS shared a few words about what Len meant to them.
“One of the things I’m most thankful for is being able to judge alongside Len,” Derek Hough, who previously served as a dance pro before joining the judging panel, said through tears. “I was able to spend a little more extra time with him and for that, I’m really thankful.”
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