Dancing With the Stars Fan Favorite Returns Years After Their Controversial Exit
In July 2020, Bergeron announced on Twitter that his tenure with DWTS was over, writing, “Just informed @DancingABC will be continuing without me. 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?” (His co-host, Erin Andrews, was also let go at the time.)
In an October 2021 episode of Bob Saget’s Here for You podcast, Bergeron attributed his firing to a difference of opinion with the show’s new producer about the role of politics on the program, which he saw as “an oasis.” When former White House press secretary Sean Spicer was cast in Season 28, Bergeron was vocal with his displeasure on Twitter. “We differed on that, I was public about that, and I don’t think that sat well with the producer or the network,” Bergeron told Saget. (For what it’s worth, Bergeron later shard that he was planning to leave after Season 30, anyway, and he “would’ve hated” hosting during the COVID years.)
Following a change in leadership behind the scenes, Bergeron hinted at a potential return to the series this past August when he spoke with TV Guide Magazine in honor of the show’s milestone season. “Conrad Green, who’s the showrunner now, was my first showrunner. When the show hit its 500th episode, he [asked], ‘Would you come and sit in the audience?’ and I said, ‘No, I’d get too fidgety,’” Bergeron recalls. “But we had lunch six weeks ago [prior to this interview], and I presented to him a scenario in which I would come back for one night.”
Dancing With the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC.
