The OG is back: Tom Bergeron will return to “Dancing With the Stars” in celebration of the ballroom competition’s 20th anniversary.
Bergeron will serve not as host, but as a guest judge, appearing alongside Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli as part of the ABC series’ “20th Birthday Party,” airing Tuesday, Nov. 11 (at 8/7c).
“I have to give all credit to Conrad Green, who was my first showrunner back when we premiered in 2005,” Bergeron tells TV Insider of his return. “I’m happy to say he’s back in that role currently, and boy has he righted that ship. I mean, wow. The numbers, I texted [executive producer] Deena Katz and I said, “I’m particularly enjoying watching the show beat ‘The Voice.’
“Conrad has really done a lovely job of reaching out to me and offering an olive leaf,” Bergeron continues, “and we’re friends, and so, in the past 12 months, when this idea popped into my head, [I thought] ‘Yeah, I think I’ll be very comfortable spending a lot more than a minute there.'”
As for what viewers can expect from Bergeron as judge, he tells TV Insider: “It’s going to be very similar to my hosting style: somewhat loose and unpredictable.”
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Bergeron Once Said He Would ‘Never’ Return to DWTS
Tom Bergeron Returning to Dancing With the Stars – ABC
It was just two years ago that Bergeron declared that he would “never” return to “Dancing With the Stars,” following his unceremonious exit in 2020. “It’s not the same show,” he told ex-“DWTS” pro Cheryl Burke on her “Sex, Lies and Spray Tans” podcast. “It’s not the same world. I did it for [15] years; there’s no point. What would I prove?”
In that same interview, Bergeron admitted that the controversial casting of Donald Trump’s former White House press secretary Sean Spicer in Season 28 — ahead of the 2020 election — marked the beginning of the end for him. “I said, ‘Guys… don’t go there,'” he said at the time. “‘This is not the right time, play to our strengths, be the show that gives people a break from all this bulls–t.”The Powers That Be at “DWTS” refused to back down, prompting Bergeron to release a statement on social media expressing his disappointment with the decision.”They had screwed me, [so] I’m gonna screw them,” he said of his decision to speak out. “But I wanted the viewers to know this was a step too far to me. This was a step too far on the cusp of an election year.”At that moment, I knew [Season 28 was] probably my last season, because of that one betrayal,” he adds. “Up until that point, there were people of character there.”
Green would ultimately return to the show in Season 31 — it’s first and only season that was exclusive to Disney+ — and remains showrunner as of Season 34.
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