If you’re a Dancing with the Stars fan, by now you’ve heard that original host Tom Bergeron is returning five years after being fired to act as a guest judge on the show’s 20th anniversary, airing tomorrow (November 11).
Now, he’s explaining the one reason why he decided to return.
Keep reading to find out more…
About how the return happened, Tom told THR, “When Conrad Green came back as the showrunner — he had been my first showrunner back in 2005, and he came back on board when, I think it’s fair to say, the show was having a little bit of a rickety period. He kind of put everything back together again, Humpty Dumpty-style (laughs), and he started extending an olive branch to me. First, he invited me to come sit in the audience for the 500th show. While I appreciated the overture, I knew I’d be too fidgety just sitting there. I needed a role where I could cause a little more trouble, and being a guest judge was something I suggested to him at lunch a few months ago. I said, ‘Look, I’ll charge you a scale, just union scale, and then you make a nice contribution to the Motion Picture and Television Fund.’ With those conditions in place, I felt very comfortable. And happily, they met my terms.”
And then he was asked if he came back because it was the 20th anniversary episode.
He then said, “To be honest? No.” He then revealed the one reason he DID come back: “If the previous regime was still in charge of the show, I wouldn’t go back. It was really because Conrad’s there, and you can tell. Just look at what the show is doing. It’s having a resurgence. It’s doing things that I can’t imagine many, if any, 20-year-old shows have done. They’ve been on a ratings tear.”
Find out what happened that led to Tom being fired from the series.
Source: justjared.com