Tom Bergeron returned to Dancing With The Stars as a guest judge on Tuesday night. This came five years after he was controversially fired by ABC. Bergeron’s firing came as a massive shock in 2020, as he had hosted Dancing With The Stars for the show’s first 28 seasons.
Bergeron Returns To Dancing With The Stars
Bergeron, 70, returned as a guest judge for the 20th birthday episode of Dancing With The Stars. After celebrities Alix Earle and Robert Irwin’s relay dance, Bergeron decided to use his time to send a message to ABC rather than critique them.
“You guys were great,” Bergeron told the celebrity contestants and their guest partners, Joey Graziadei and Xochitl Gomez. “But in my last comments as a judge, I want to talk directly to the network.”
Looking directly at the camera, Bergeron proceeded to say, “This show is setting ratings records again, so next season bring back the results show. Let the whole country vote. Let everybody vote.”
This prompted the audience to erupt into cheers of agreement. Bergeron’s comments referenced the previous two-episode format of Dancing With the Stars. This included one night of dancing performances followed by a results episode in which the couple with the lowest score and least votes was eliminated. Indeed, this format allowed for a much bigger voting window than the current one does.
Bergeron ‘Mourned The Loss Of That Tuesday Show’
“I always mourned the loss of that Tuesday show,” Bergeron told The Hollywood Reporter ahead of his return to the ballroom. “I thought it made the voting more fair across the country, because the West Coast can’t vote now unless they’re watching on wherever the hell you’d watch it streamed live.”
“The results show was great,” he continued. “It was like a variety show with an elimination at the end. I think the ratings now would really speak to it being time to bring that back.”
Bergeron also made it clear that despite pleas from fans, he has no plans to return to hosting Dancing With The Stars. The ABC reality television show is currently being hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough.
“No, I’m done. I’m done,” Bergeron stressed. “They have a permanent host, and he’s really good. I have no desire to host anymore.”
Bergeron Was Excited To Return To Dancing With The Stars
That being said, Bergeron was still excited to return to Dancing With The Stars for one night.
“I’m anticipating that it’s going to be a wonderfully emotional, nostalgic night,” he told TV Insider days before his return. “In the audience will be a number of past champions and competitors. There’s a special dance challenge that is going to factor into the anniversary night that will evoke even more nostalgia.”
“It’s so much fun to watch my friends do the work,” he added with a laugh. “I don’t have to throw to commercials. I don’t have to worry about the timing. I’ll be respectful and sensitive of what Alfonso has to deal with, ’cause I’ve been there. But I’m just looking forward to being in an environment surrounded by people I really care about on live television, where there’s no second take. It’s my happy place.”
While Ribeiro is certainly a great host, many feel that Bergeron never should have been fired in the first place. Here’s hoping that ABC executives have finally realized their mistake after seeing just how beloved Bergeron was during his Dancing With The Stars return last night.
God bless you, Tom Bergeron!