Ex ‘DWTS’ Host Tom Bergeron Says His Opposition To Having White House Spokesman Sean Spicer On Show Led To His Firing

Former Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron has opened up about the events that led to him being fired from the show after 15 years.

While appearing on Cheryl Burke’s Sex Lies and Spray Tans podcast, Bergeron explained that, when he met with the showrunner and producer in 2019, he urged them to keep the show apolitical amid a polarizing election year.

“Don’t go there,” Bergeron recalled saying to his bosses. “Just make us the wonderful escape from all that divisiveness for two hours a week.”

A few weeks later, Bergeron was given the cast list for the show’s 28th season and saw that former White House press secretary for Donald Trump, Sean Spicer, was included.

“I said, ‘Guys, this is exactly what we said we wouldn’t do,'” Bergeron explained. “And I would have responded the same way if they had booked Hillary Clinton, whom I voted for. ‘Don’t go there. This is not the right time. Play to our strengths. Be the show that gives people a break from all the bulls—.'”

Given his stance on the matter, Bergeron offered to take the season off. Instead, the producers decided to let the host out of his contract altogether.

Following his termination, Bergeron released a statement condemning the Dancing with the Stars team.

“They had screwed me, I’m going to screw them,” Bergeron said on the podcast.

The former host emphasized that opposition toward Spicer joining the cast had nothing to do with his personal opinions on larger issues.

“It wasn’t about my political beliefs,” he said. “It was about my feeling about the show. What is this show at its best? And what was happening was we were suddenly becoming this show at its worst.”