Dancing With the Stars alum Tom Bergeron is returning after being fired from the show

Dancing With the Stars alum Tom Bergeron was one of the most beloved hosts on the show. Viewers received a big surprise as the former host, who had exited the show five years ago, finally returned as a guest judge in celebration of the show’s 20th anniversary.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the former host was asked whether he would like to return as a permanent host, to which Tom Bergeron replied,

“No, I’m done. I’m done. They have a permanent host, and he’s really good.”

Dancing With the Stars alum Tom Bergeron talks about his return to the show

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the former host says he is “thrilled” to return to the show. However, he didn’t agree to guest judge merely because it was the show’s 20th anniversary.  The former host revealed that it was executive producer Conrad Green, who started with the series in season one and returned in season 33, who extended an olive branch to him. 

“If the previous regime was still in charge of the show, I wouldn’t go back, he made clear. “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.”

The former host revealed that when Conrad Green returned as the showrunner, he managed to put everything back together again and soon reached out to Tom, asking him to be a part of the show. 

“First, he invited me to come sit in the audience for the 500th show,” he revealed. “While I appreciated the overture, I needed a role where I could cause a little more trouble. 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.’ … Happily, they met my terms.” 

Tom Bergeron admits to not liking the former showrunner of the show

In the interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the former host was asked about his exit from the show. Tom admitted that it “pissed” him off, and that he did not like the show runner, and that he was well aware of it.  The former host also revealed that he did not like being lied to, and the showrunner did exactly that. Tom recalled, 

“So when he got fired, I think when Twitter was still a thing, I posted, “Karma is a b***h.” So I couldn’t be happier that the people who are running the show now are running the show. But to be honest, the 20th anniversary, in other people’s hands, would not have lured me back.”

Watch the new episodes of Dancing With the Stars season 34 airing on ABC and Disney on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Viewers can stream the next day on Hulu. Stay tuned for more updates.