Tom Bergeron Was “Furious” That ‘DWTS’ “Screwed” Him Over By Casting Sean Spicer: “Really Pissed Me Off”

Tom Bergeron reflected on his sudden exit from Dancing with the Stars in 2020, which he claims directly stemmed from the show’s controversial decision to cast Donald Trump‘s former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

During a recent appearance on former DWTS pro Cheryl Burke‘s podcast, Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans, Bergeron said the producers ignored his warnings against casting Spicer on the show so they could continue being a “joyful respite” for its viewers during a difficult election cycle.

“I said, ‘Guys, this is exactly what we said we wouldn’t do. 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 bullshit,'” Bergeron recalled.

He then offered to “take the season off” as a compromise, but the executives instead offered to let him out of his contract entirely. This move “really pissed me off,” Bergeron said. By that point, he had been hosting the show for almost 15 years.

“That’s how strongly they felt,” he said.

Spicer was cast in 2019 for Season 28, which Bergeron pointed out was at “the cusp of an election year.”

After the season’s cast was announced, Bergeron boldly reacted to the news with his own statement in which he revealed that he had met with the show’s executive producer to discuss how they could make the new season “a joyful respite from our exhausting political climate and free of inevitably divisive bookings from ANY party affiliations.”

Though he did not directly name Spicer in the statement, he wrote at the time, “We can agree to disagree, as we do now, but ultimately it’s their call.”

On the podcast, Bergeron told Burke that he did not tell the network that he would be putting out his own statement.

“They had screwed me. I’m gonna screw them,” he remembered thinking. “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 [Spicer] been a Democrat, same statement.”

Bergeron said that casting decision marked the beginning of the end of his tenure on the show. He and Erin Andrews left Dancing with the Stars in 2020 and were later replaced by Tyra Banks.

“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.” 

This would not be the last time the series would face some backlash for its casting decisions.

The show recently cast former football star Adrian Peterson, who was convicted of assaulting his then four-year-old son. The decision met considerable backlash, including from Sharna Burgess, a professional dancer on the show who claimed she would “turn around and walk right out” if she was partnered up with him.

Burke had her own opinion on the matter, however.

“You sign up to be a part of the show. And honestly, as a pro dancer, whoever walks in through that door, you don’t turn around and walk out,” she said. “You’re signing up for this.”