Yesterday, we reported [1] that fans of “Dancing With The Stars” were calling for host Tyra Banks to be fired and replaced by the show’s former host Tom Bergeron after she botched the elimination night on Monday in a humiliating way. Now, an executive producer at “Dancing With The Stars” is speaking out to address what happened, and he’s standing by Banks.
“I think Tyra dealt with it amazingly,” executive producer Andrew Llinares [2] told Entertainment Tonight [3]. “I just want to be really clear, this was not Tyra’s fault. It was a behind-the-scenes issue.”
This came after Banks called out one of the wrong bottom two couples, causing the live show to descend into chaos, much to the dismay of viewers. Despite the backlash Banks and the show received for this, Llinares tried to let it roll off his back.
“It’s live television, things like this happen, especially with information coming in from all over the country, voting and calculating in such a small amount of time,” he said. “Tyra was brilliant … she was really good because she took control of the situation.”
“Dancing With The Stars” judge Bruno Tonioli also defended Banks from this and the criticism she has received for replacing Bergeron and his cohost, Erin Andrews. Tonioli shook this off, telling fans to “let her do it her way.”
“Oh, please. Tyra did a fantastic job. She is doing it the way she wants to do it,” he said. “It’s a bit tiring, all the negativity, in not even giving people a chance. Just let her be who she is. It’s great to work with her.”
“We’re in a world that always focuses on the negative and I found that quite upsetting,” Tonioli added. “You can’t compare apples to pears, you know? You get different things, and you have to allow someone to do things their own way. The show is good, we’re having a great time, the viewing figures are great, and we all get on. We are trying to give two hours of entertainment and fun to the people, so why don’t [they] focus on that?”
Llinares expressed similar sentiments.
“I was in the control room when this happened,” he explained. “The votes and results coming in is one of the most dramatic moments in the show, but it was a little more dramatic than we were hoping for last night, in a very unexpected way.”
“I think we were a little shocked and stunned by what was going on, but this is live TV and you have to deal with situations like this all the time,” Llinares added. “There was a technical issue as the actual votes were coming in last night. What happened was, Tyra actually had the wrong names on her card.”
“As soon as we realized what was going on, and we got the correct voting information, we immediately rectified that on air. We spoke to Tyra, we got her to guide us through that,” he continued. “I think she did an amazing job rectifying what happened live on the show. It’s not an easy thing to do, what she did. There’s a lot of undo criticism, I think, around Tyra. I just think she’s doing an amazing job on this show. And I could not be more thrilled with the way that she dealt with this moment on the show.”
Fans, however, do not agree.
Bring them back!!!! Tom @Tom_Bergeron wouldn’t have screwed up!!!!!!#DWTS [4] you guys ruin a good things by letting go the real hosts they had chemistry. Tyra just pulled a Steve Harvey 🤦♀️ pic.twitter.com/73G84NZhfY [5]
— S☔️She-a (@puppynoses1) October 6, 2020 [6]
You know who wouldn’t blame the “control room”? #DWTS [4] pic.twitter.com/oW5wM6ImZ2 [7]
— Katie Drennen (@thekatiedrennen) October 6, 2020 [8]
https://twitter.com/Moe80814576/status/1313284690661593089?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1313284690661593089%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.upliftingtoday.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D85188action%3Dedit
This piece originally appeared in UpliftingToday.com [9] and is used by permission.
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