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Tom Bergeron is taking a seat on the Dancing With the Stars <\/em>judging panel. The original host of the dance competition series, who exited the show in 2020 following a disagreement with producers, will return on Nov. 11 for the upcoming 20th anniversary show, DWTS <\/em>announced on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Bergeron told ABC News<\/a> on Wednesday that he had been teasing his comeback by sharing memories from his time on the show. However, Bergeron said that he didn\u2019t always hold a lot of affection for DWTS<\/em> after his 2020 exit.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the first couple years after I was shown the door, I wouldn’t even refer to the show by its actual name \u2014 I called it Footwork With the Famous<\/em>,\u201d Bergeron said. He explained that when his original showrunner, Conrad Green, returned to the series, it helped right what was a \u201crickety ship\u201d for Bergeron. \u201cHe started extending an olive branch, and it just rekindled in me all the 14, 15 years of wonderful memories,\u201d the former host said.<\/p>\n While Bergeron was originally invited to be in the audience for the show\u2019s 500th episode, he declined and instead suggested returning for the 20th anniversary as a judge.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, the technical stuff, the other three are gonna handle,\u201d Bergeron said, acknowledging his lack of formal dance experience. \u201cI\u2019m into, \u2018What did you do, did you move me in any way? Did you make me laugh, cry, goose bumps? Did you make me look for the exits?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Bergeron exited DWTS<\/em> in 2020. Prior to his exit, he was critical of the show\u2019s decision to cast Sean Spicer<\/a>, former press secretary to President Trump in his first administration, for its 2019 season.<\/p>\n In a 2023 conversation on Cheryl Burke\u2019s Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans<\/em> podcast<\/a>, Bergeron, who hosted his final season with Spicer as a contestant, said that the Spicer decision came after he had a conversation with the producers in which he urged them not to cast anyone political in order to provide audiences with an escape from the news cycle. At the time, they seemingly agreed \u2014\u00a0but when Spicer was cast anyway, Bergeron felt lied to.<\/p>\n \u201cI would have responded the same way if they had booked Hillary Clinton, whom I voted for,\u201d Bergeron said.<\/p>\n The host said he was \u201cfurious\u201d that the producers did not listen to him and offered to take the season off \u2014 at which time the producers offered to let him out of his contract. At the time, he had signed on to the show for three more seasons. His cohost Erin Andrews departed the show as well in 2020<\/a>. After her exit, Andrews called the news a \u201csurprise.\u201d<\/p>\n Tyra Banks took over the hosting gig until 2023, after which former DWTS <\/em>winner Alfonso Ribeiro and dancer turned actress Julianne Hough joined as cohosts.<\/p>\n