Brooke Burke is getting honest about how Tyra Banks has performed as the new host of “Dancing With The Stars.”
During an appearance on the “Behind the Velvet Rope” podcast, Burke was asked for her blunt take on how Banks had been serving as the new host of the competitive reality show.
“It’s tough. It’s a live show. And I know those live tapings are a struggle, you know, behind the scenes,” Burke said candidly. “You know, she’s a diva. And everybody knows that she’s a diva. There’s nothing wrong with that. And I’m not, I’m not saying anything bad about her. Be a diva. It’s not the place to be a diva. You know, your pros are the diva. Your winner. Your perfect-10 score dancer who’s never done it. That defines diva in the ballroom. So, you know, I just think it wasn’t embraced.”
The 50-year-old had co-hosted the dance series from 2010-2013 after winning the contest in 2008. Back in 2020, Tyra took the reins from long-running co-hosts Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews after they were ousted from the show.
Burke acknowledged that the show had seen major changes since its conception, “I think that show requires a lot of compassion and loving kindness, especially as the host, so, you know, I don’t really need to say it,” the TV personality admitted. “I think it was a tough transition. Change is hard for everyone, you know, they’ve gone through a lot on that show. That’s for sure.”
“And you are just not the star as the host. Like, it is just not about you as the host. Right?” Burk reiterated her opinion on what she believed was the purpose of a host. “So, yeah, I think Tyra is great in a shining role. I will just say that.”
On an episode of “Bob Saget’s Here For You” podcast in October 2021, Bergeron talked about his departure from the iconic dance series.
“In all candor, the show that I left was not the show that I loved,” Bergeron told Saget. “So at the end of the season that turned out to be my last season, I kind of knew. I took everything out of my dressing room that I really wanted. … It was kind of obvious that we were kind of butting heads [behind-the-scenes]. It wasn’t a pleasant [experience].”
Bergeron went on to comment that his exit from the show wasn’t sad or disappointing,.
“I wasn’t surprised that that was my last season, so there was no blue period,” he continued. “Actually, I think Erin and I had more fun being fired than virtually anybody.”
The 66-year-old television personality began as host of the show back in 2005, when it first debuted. Andrews, meanwhile, joined as co-host in 2014 ahead of Season 18. Although Bergeron had a largely positive experience working on the series, he claimed there were conflicts with personnel changes and ultimately he could no longer “see eye-to-eye” with producers. He was especially vocal in 2019 with his objections over the casting of Donald Trump’s ex-press secretary Sean Spicer.
When ABC had announced the departure of Bergeron and Andrews in July 2020, the network added that the show would be heading in “a new creative direction” by hiring Tyra.
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