Tyra Banks Will Not Host Dancing with the Stars (Report)

(ABC/Eric McCandless) TYRA BANKS

Tyra Banks will likely NOT be returning to Dancing with the Stars next season, according to a report.

As the long-running dance competition prepares to move from broadcast TV to streaming platform Disney+, changes are afoot, according to The Sun. The veteran show has been renewed for seasons 31 and 32, but only to stream on Disney+.

“There is no official decision on who will be hosting next season but it doesn’t look like Tyra will be back,” a source told The Sun. “Which would be a network decision, not her decision.”

Behind the scenes chaos at DWTS

“Production has been a mess, with no clear direction of where [the show] was going,” said the Sun source, “which is why certain producers have been axed in recent months.”

ABC recently fired showrunner Andrew Llinares who is responsible for replacing long time and beloved host Tom Bergeron and co-host Erin Andrews with Tyra. Llinares came on board as producer in 2018. In 2020 he  hired Tyra to host and gave her an executive producer credit.  

“The mix of the behind-the-scenes chaos and the historically low ratings ultimately was the nail in the coffin,” the source continued. “ABC didn’t feel it was worth the investment anymore, but didn’t want to drop it as a whole.”

However, the source doesn’t think the show’s problems are entirely Tyra’s fault.

“I wouldn’t say it’s Tyra’s fault the show got dropped by the network,” the source confessed. “I mean, that certainly didn’t help, but she came in and did the job she was hired to do.

“The problem is, she just didn’t fit in. She didn’t fit in with producers and she didn’t fit with the audience and it showed.” 

The DWTS family got broken

Dancing With The Stars has always operated like a family behind the scenes. And when new execs and producers came in a couple seasons ago, that family got broken.

“It hasn’t been the same show and everyone involved with it feels that to some degree. So it’s been an unhappy environment the past few seasons.”

Tyra has proved to be an awkward host, making mistakes during the live telecast, such as calling the wrong bottom two. It’s the kind of mistake that Bergeron, a veteran broadcaster, would have never made. Also, Bergeron spoke out on social media after the show cast Trump ex-press secretary Sean Spicer. Bergeron and Llinares clashed from the beginning, apparently.

A source told Deadline that Tara’s grand fashion plate entrances at the beginning of the show annoy the pro dancers, who resent that her weekly “sashay” replaced opening numbers by ballroom dancers.  They also hate the “fancy lighting and busy backdrops.”

“We’re not a music video,” one of the veteran pros tells Deadline. “We’re not the MTV music awards. We’re a ballroom dance show.”

Brooke Burke says hosting DWTS is NOT about being a Diva

Meanwhile, former DWTS winner and co-host Brooke Burke said during Wednesday’s episode of David Yontef’s Behind the Velvet Rope that Dancing with the Stars is not the place to be a diva.

“There’s nothing wrong with [being a diva], and I’m not saying anything bad about her — be a diva!” Brooke said about Tara’s skill as a host. “It’s [just] not the place to be a diva.”

Brooke added, ““…you are just not the star” as the host. “Like, it is just not about you as the host, right? So, yeah, I think Tyra is great in a shining role. I will just say that.”

About mj santilli 34830 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!