Heavy/Getty Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro are returning to "Dancing With the Stars," but they have different roles this time around.
Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro are returning to “Dancing With the Stars,” but they have different roles this time around.
Hough, 34, started on the show as a professional dancer — winning first place with celebrities like Apolo Anton Ohno and Hélio Castroneves — and also served as a judge for seasons 19 to 21, 23 and 24.
Now she’s looking forward to her new role as co-host, working side-by-side with Ribeiro, 51, who came in first place during season 19 of DWTS with Whitney Carson as his partner in 2014 and then co-hosted season 31 with Tyra Banks in 2022.
“Well, honestly, it’s full circle being able to come back from being a dancer to a judge and now co-hosting with Alfonso,” Hough told Entertainment Tonight Online. “It’s amazing. Honestly, it’s just family again. I’m just excited. I can’t wait to see everybody back on the dance floor and just get our groove on.”
Ribeiro — also known for his role as Carlton on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” — predicts that he and Hough will have an “incredible” time hosting together.
“I think even from, like, hanging out and talking and feeling our energy together, we both see the show the exact same way and we wanna make it family again,” he told ET Online. “Make it really just warm and everybody have a great time.”
Ribeiro is looking forward to the expertise Hough will bring to hosting.
“Her knowledge of the dance and being able to be in the skybox and all of that is gonna be fantastic. And I’m just gonna have fun on the floor with Derek [Hough] and all of the other judges and our contestants,” the actor said, referring to Hough’s brother, who is a judge on season 32. “Let’s just have some fun. I think people are gonna enjoy this season.”
Tyra Banks Left ‘Dancing With the Stars’
Hough and Riberio are replacing “America’s Next Top Model” judge Tyra Banks, who hosted “DWTS” for three seasons.
Banks said she wants to focus on other things.
“I feel it’s time for me to really focus on my business and my entrepreneurship and also producing more TV but behind the scenes,” Banks told TMZ in March. “You know what? I think it’s time to graduate from the dance floor to the stock market floor.”
The former model told TMZ she was “working hard” on her ice cream brand, called Smize & Dream, which launched in the United Arab Emirates. Now, she wants to focus on bringing the dessert to the U.S.
“I really really want to focus on my business and you can’t do that hosting a show,” she told the publication. “So you’ll see me creating things, not just hosting things.”
Banks often faced backlash from DWTS fans for the mistakes she made while hosting.
In October 2020, longtime beloved DWTS host Tom Bergeron was fired from the reality show after having creative differences with the showrunners.
“In all candor, the show that I left was not the show that I loved,” Bergeron said on Bob Saget’s “Here For You” podcast. “The end of the season that turned out to be my last season, I kind of knew. So I took everything out of my dressing room that I really wanted. … It was kind of obvious that we were butting heads.”
Bergeron hosted the ABC show from 2005 to 2019.
Judge Len Goodman Left the Show
The hosts aren’t the only change to “Dancing With the Stars.” After serving as a judge on DWTS for 17 years, Len Goodman announced his departure.
“While we are all getting excited and looking forward so much to the finale next week, it will also be with a touch of sadness,” Goodman said during a November 2022 episode, per E! Online. “As this will be my last season judging on ‘Dancing With the Stars.’
“I’ve been with the show since it started in 2005,” he continued, per E! Online. “It has been a huge pleasure to be a part of such a wonderful show. I’ve decided I’d like to spend more time with my grandchildren and family back in Britain.”
Season 32 of “Dancing with the Stars” will premiere September 2023 on Disney+.