'DWTS' fired Tom Bergeron, but he's open to return — only if they meet his shark-sized conditions
There was a time when the name Tom Bergeron was practically synonymous with 'Dancing with the Stars.' However, everything changed when the host had to bid farewell to the dance competition in 2020, raising many eyebrows. Since his departure, Bergeron never showed any signs of making a comeback on the show...until now. According to recent reports, Bergeron has teased a potential 'Dancing with the Stars' return, but there is one major catch.
Notably, Bergeron is all set to return to his hosting duties with 'Dancing With Sharks' on Sunday, July 20, at 8 p.m. ET on Discovery. However, amid his comeback, he made a surprising confession about possibly returning to 'Dancing with the Stars.' In an interview with The New York Post, Bergeron shared that he recently had lunch with 'DWTS' original showrunner, Conrad Green, who has returned to the series and is “the reason the show has righted itself.”
When asked if he'd ever return to the show, Bergeron replied, "At lunch with Conrad, I offered a way that I'd feel comfortable going back for one night. I said, 'I'm not even going to charge you a lot of money. You pay me scale, and then you make a generous contribution to the Motion Picture and Television Fund, and I'll be there.'" He added with a wink, "So we'll see. The mirrorball is in their court." Bergeron also talked about his controversial exit from the dance competition, saying, "I miss the people," but noting that his contract was originally set to take him to season 30, "at which point, I was going to leave on my timing. So, I only missed two seasons by being fired."
Bergeron also acknowledged that those two seasons coincided with the pandemic and admitted, "I would have hated that, because everything that I loved about the show's camaraderie, throwing a party for everybody mid-season, hanging out together, you couldn't do any of that." Instead, he feels fortunate about how things ended for him, explaining, "I was able to go out doing the show the way I always did the show. And on that last show, Len [Goodman] and Bruno [Tonioli], Carrie Ann [Inaba] and I had a great time. I have great memories of wrapping it up that way." Looking back on his firing, he even concluded, "In hindsight, they kind of did me a favor."
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Previously, Bergeron had shared an unexpected behind-the-scenes detail from his 'Dancing with the Stars' days in an Instagram post shared on June 22, 2023, according to Good Housekeeping. The amusing memento? His old security badge from working at TVC studios, where 'DWTS' was filmed. But what made the badge truly unique was the photo on it—instead of a traditional ID picture, the badge featured Bergeron in full alien prosthetics from his 2002 guest appearance on 'Star Trek: Enterprise,' where he played a character named D'Marr. Sharing the image with fans, Bergeron joked, "For years, this was my actual security badge at @tvc.studios. The resemblance is uncanny."