Tom Bergeron gave this casting choice a 0.
Former “Dancing With the Stars” host Tom Bergeron revealed Monday that he felt “betrayed” by show runners after they casted former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer against his wishes.
“I said, ‘Guys, this is exactly what we said we wouldn’t do,’” Bergeron, 68, said on Cheryl Burke’s “Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans” podcast. “‘Don’t go there. This is, you know, not the right time, play to our strengths, be the show that gives people a break from all this bulls–t.’”
The Post has reached out to Bergeron and Spicer for comment.
According to Bergeron, both the showrunners and producers were determined to bring Spicer, 52, on the show.
Bergeron, who asserted that he would have said the same thing if it had been a high-profile Democrat, revealed that he offered to “take the season off” while Spicer competed for the Mirrorball trophy.
It was then the ABC executives offered to release the host from his contract.
“That’s how strongly they felt,” Bergeron said, while adding that it “really pissed me off.”
Furious at the broadcasting company, the former host composed and later released a rather shady statement regarding his meeting with the higher-ups.
In the statement, which was shared on his X (formerly Twitter) account before the host deactivated it, Bergeron blasted ABC for steering the show away from a “joyful respite from our exhausting political climate” free of “inevitably divisive bookings from ANY party affiliations.”
According to the host, he didn’t tell ABC he was planning to release the statement because “they didn’t deserve to know.”
“They had screwed me. I’m gonna screw them,” Bergeron explained. “But I wanted the viewers to know this was a step too far to me.
“This was a step too far on the cusp of an election year. And again — had it been a Democrat, same statement,” he added.
The former “America’s Funniest Home Videos” host said he received a lot of complaints from viewers regarding Spicer after the former White House official was announced as part of the show’s 28th season.
“At that moment, I knew this is probably my last season, because of that one betrayal,” he said. “Up until that point, there were people of character there.”
True to his word, Bergeron later tweeted that he would be leaving the show.
“Just informed @DancingABC will be continuing without me,” Bergeron tweeted. “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?”
Bergeron was later replaced by fashion icon Tyra Banks, 49, who cha-cha’d her way out prior to the 32nd season.
She was later replaced by former “DWTS” dancer and judge Julianne Hough, who serves as co-host with Season 19 champ Alfonso Ribeiro.
“Dancing With the Stars” airs every Tuesday on ABC at 8 p.m. EST.
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