The Real Reason Tom Bergeron Left DWTS After 20 Seasons & the 1 Condition He Required for His Return

Tom Bergeron left an incredible mark on Dancing With the Stars. Nearly 6 years after his departure, the iconic host decided to return to the ABC competition show as a guest judge. But what sparked his leave in the first place?

Bergeron was the first host of the hit primetime show and served the duties until 2020. “Just informed [Dancing With the Stars] will be continuing without me,” he shared on X (formerly Twitter) in 2020. “It’s been an incredible 15-year run and the most unexpected gift of my career. I’m grateful for that and for the lifelong friendships made. That said, now what am I supposed to do with all of these glitter masks?”

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Tyra Banks later succeeded as host until she was replaced by current hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianna Hough. But why is the Emmy Award-winning host returning now?

Why Did Tom Bergeron Leave Dancing With the Stars?

Tom Bergeron was fired because he criticized the casting of former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on the show in 2019.

He also clarified on Cheryl Burke’s Sex, Lies and Spray Tans podcast that he would object to any political figure on the show. “And I said, ‘Guys, this is exactly what we said we wouldn’t do,’” the Emmy winner recalled. “And I would have responded the same way if they had booked Hillary Clinton, whom I voted for. ‘Don’t go there. This is, you know, not the right time. Play to our strengths. Be the show that gives people a break from all this bulls—.’ So, I was furious.”

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the former host revealed how he really felt during the time. “It pissed me off. I’ll be honest with you. I did not like the showrunner. He knew that. I didn’t like being lied to, and he did that. So when he got fired, I think when Twitter was still a thing, I posted, ‘Karma is a bitch.’ So I couldn’t be happier that the people who are running the show now are running the show. But to be honest, the 20th anniversary, in other people’s hands, would not have lured me back.”

“What I get a kick out of is when every so often on social media, I’ll see somebody, like, ‘Well, if Tom hadn’t brought politics into the show, he wouldn’t have got fired,’ he said.

Why Is Tom Bergeron Returning to Dancing With the Stars?

Tom Bergeron agreed to return as a guest judge to the 20th anniversary special of Dancing With the Stars airing on Nov. 11, 2025. He returned to the special because of staff changes.

“If the previous regime was still in charge of the show, I wouldn’t go back,” he says, explaining that executive producer Conrad Green’s return was a major push in his return. Green had been the inaugural showrunner and left the show in Season 27. He later returned to the show for Season 31 and “extended an olive branch” to Bergeron.

As for whether he’d return to host permanently, he told THR, “I’m done. They have a permanent host, and he’s really good. I have no desire to host anymore. I’m always open to being surprised, but it would not be that show, because they have great people doing it. But honestly, to go back as a guest judge, I’m just thrilled about. But no, I would never host it again.”

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