Dancing with the Stars boss on firing Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews: The show needed to evolve

Us Weekly

“I think it’s all about evolution," showrunner Andrew Llinares told reporters today. "I think any show like this that has been on many, many seasons needs to continue to evolve. I think changing the host was all about evolution, it was about making the show feel fresh, making it feel new (and) kind of make it reach out — maybe to a new audience as well, as well as the audience that’s been there for years.” Llinares also thought it was a good idea to change the format to have only one host. “I think it’s really refreshed the pace of the show,” he said. “There’s a real danger, when a show’s been on for a long time, that the audience almost gets bored of the rhythm of it. It’s changed the rhythm of the show in a really exciting way (to have Tyra Banks hosting solo). Tyra’s doing an amazing, amazing job.”

ALSO:

• Dancing boss says coronavirus has forced changes that have enhanced the show: “There’s lots of changes we’ve made because of the situation we’re in this year, which I think has improved the show in a really big way,” said showrunner Andrew Llinares. “Removing the audience was something that we were terrified about. We redesigned the set and added these extra screens, and I think it looks amazing in there." He added that the lack of backing dancers and big set pieces has meant there’s more focus on the dancing couples this year. “COVID has pushed us in some many creative ways … it’s improved the show and taken us to places that maybe we wouldn’t have gone to,” Llinares added. “COVID has created huge challenges for us but actually propelled us to a place that creatively we probably wouldn’t have got to. We’re super excited about where we’ve landed in this unbelievably unique year.”
• Derek Hough will dance on Dancing with the Stars with girlfriend Hayley Erbert