Why Tom Bergeron Was Happy To Be Fired From ‘Dancing With The Stars’

Tom Bergeron was not at all surprised when he was told that he was being let go from “Dancing With the Stars.”

The 66-year-old television personality recently made a guest appearance on the “Bob Saget’s Here For You” podcast where he addressed his termination from the long-running dancing reality competition.

According to Bergeron, he was not caught off guard when he and co-host Erin Andrews, 43, were fired. He said that he knew it was going to happen because there was already tension between him and producers at the time.

“So, the end of the season that turned out to be my last season [in 2019], I kind of knew. So I took everything out of my dressing room that I really wanted. … It was kind of obvious that we were kind of butting heads,” he said during the interview.

Bergeron got into a messy situation ahead of his final season on the show when he spoke out against the casting of Sean Spicer, who served as White House press secretary for six months under former President Donald Trump.

“A few months ago, during a lunch with DWTS‘ new Executive Producer, I offered suggestions for Season 28. Chief among them was my hope that DWTS, in its return following an unprecedented year-long hiatus, would be a joyful respite from our exhausting political climate and free of inevitably divisive bookings from ANY party affiliations,” Bergeron publicly disclosed in a lengthy statement he posted on Twitter in August 2019.

He continued, “I left that lunch convinced we were in agreement. Subsequently (and rather obviously), a decision was made to, as we often say in Hollywood, ‘go in a different direction.’ It is the prerogative of the producers, in partnership with the network, to make whatever decisions they feel are in the best long term interests of the franchise. We can agree to disagree, as we do now, but ultimately it’s their call.”

In his latest interview, Bergeron dropped a bombshell when he admitted that he did not “love” doing “DWTS” despite hosting it for 28 seasons. He also threw some shade at its producers when he claimed that he and Andrews were quite happy when they got fired.

“In all candor, the show that I left was not the show that I loved,” he was quoted as saying by Us Weekly. “I think Erin and I had more fun getting fired than anyone.”

Bergeron hosted “DWTS” since the show’s debut in 2005. On the other hand, Andrews joined as his co-host in 2014 for Season 18. Both were replaced by Tyra Banks ahead of last year’s Season 29, with ABC announcing in July 2020 that they have decided to head in “a new creative direction,” according to People.