BERGERON BASKS IN TYRA TROUBLES!
DANCING with the Stars castoff Tom Bergeron tasted sweet revenge when tyrant Tyra Banks left the TV competition as gossips tittered she’d been shown the door! While Tyra says she decided to quit and “graduate from the dance floor to the stock market floor” to pursue business interests, a source claims that was a face-saving measure — and Tom is savoring her departure. Bergeron, 67, led the dancing competition for 28 seasons but was replaced by the illtempered Tyra in 2019, who was also handed an executive ve producer title. “Tom was bitter about getting fired,” confides a source. “He felt like the show was his baby after hosting so long and Tyra wasn’t going to make it as host and producer. “It looks like he was right. Viewers never seemed to really ally connect with her, and her management style had the crew calling her a difficult diva behind her back.” During the supermodel’s reign, ratings tanked in 2021, and the once popular ABC show was moved to the subscription-based Disney+ channel. “Show honchos had no intentions of bringing Tyra back for another season,” says the source. “They just wrote her off as a bad experiment.”
Tyra, 49, is being replaced by her co-host from last season, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air alum Alfonso Ribeiro, with veteran DWTS dance pro and judge Julianne Hough serving as his sidekick.
“Tom would have liked to have been asked back, but he’s friends with Alfonso and Julianne,” says the source. “He feels like they will be a better fit than Tyra on the show.”