ABC Tyra Banks on ABC's 'Dancing With the Stars' season 29
Two more “Dancing With the Stars” pro dancers have weighed in on Tyra Banks as the new host. Find out what Emma Slater and Sasha Farber had to say about how Banks did last season and how they’ll handle her continuing to host in season 30.
The Couple Praised Banks For Doing a ‘Phenomenal’ Job But They Wish They Could’ve Gotten to Know Her Better
In an interview with US Weekly, Farber and Slater said that they think Banks walked into a hard situation and did really well and say their one regret is that they couldn’t get to know her better due to the pandemic protocols in place.
“I think she did an amazing job,” Slater said. “I really did. I think her personality, I think she’s larger than life. She’s absolutely gorgeous. I would have loved to have gotten to know her more on a personal level. Because of COVID we couldn’t, but I think she did a phenomenal job.”
Slater continued, “The way that she handled that situation when there was sort of misinformation between her cue cards and the prompter, I actually thought she did a really great job with that. That was a difficult situation and not many people could have really handled that, and I think that she did it kind of seamlessly. So I thought kudos to her. She did a great job.”
They are not the only pro dancers who think Banks was a successful first-year host. Jenna Johnson has said Banks was “a gem” and Derek Hough said that she did a “phenomenal job” sliding right into some big shoes she had to fill in the wake of Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews’ firing.
In Season 30, Slater Wants to Reach Out to Banks
Slater also said that in the upcoming 30th season, if she is back as a professional partner, she really wants to reach out to Banks.
“I feel like now, hopefully with this [new] season, I don’t know how the COVID restrictions are going to go. Like, we really don’t know anything. If I’m back, I definitely will be like knocking on Tyra’s door and be like, ‘Hey, let’s hang!'” said Slater. “I really wanted to get to know her but we really couldn’t spend that much time together because of the restrictions. Even after you dance when you talk to her and Tyra asks you questions, there was still the distance between us and I felt like I would’ve really like to got to know her before.”
Slater’s husband Farber added that he thinks “Dancing With the Stars” as a whole did an “incredible” job keeping everyone safe.
“I think the show did such a great job. Like, that’s when COVID was in the midst of it and we were the only show that did a live show in the studio and we managed to do it so safely,” said Farber. ” The crew were incredible. No one got COVID, not one. And I think now it’s kind of like with the whole Delta strain I think ‘Dancing With the STars’ specifically has a real good equation on how everything works out, so they always keep us safe. And like Emma was saying, the distance with Tyra and all just made me remember how well the season ran and I think it might be the same again [this year] because of this Delta [variant].”
“Dancing With the Stars” season 30 premieres Monday, September 20 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
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