ABC Tom Bergeron.
The cast for “Dancing with the Stars” has changed a lot over the past 17 years. When the celebrity ballroom competition first premiered on ABC in 2005, Tom Bergeron was the host. Early on, Cheryl Burke was a pro dancer on the show, winning the second and third seasons with partners Drew Lachey and Emmitt Smith.
After hosting 28 seasons, Bergeron was fired from DWTS in 2020 and replaced by Tyra Banks. And in 2022, Burke announced she was retiring as a pro dancer on the show.
But the two DWTS legends had a recent reunion—and it had fans talking.
Tom Bergeron & Cheryl Burke Hammed It Up in a Series Of Photos
Weeks after she took her last bow in the DWTS ballroom, Burke shared a series of photos to Instagram as she posed with Bergeron. The longtime friends smiled and then made faces in the pics.
“Dance Dad and his many personalities,” Burke captioned the post, adding the hashtags #dancedad and #reunitedanditfeelssogood.”
In the comment section, fans reacted to say they’d like to see both stars back in the DWTS ballroom.
“How about you two as cohosts for next season!!!!!!!!” one fan suggested. “You both should be the hosts of DWTS! A perfect duo,” another agreed.
“It was never the same without Tom and now without you. Why can’t the two of you do something together?” another asked Burke.
“Wish we could have gotten this partnership for Season 32,” another fan wrote of Bergeron and Burke.
“Ask him if he’s available September 2023…. Preferably Mondays,” another fan cracked.
Tom Bergeron Praised DWTS for Bringing Back the Original Showrunner
ABCTom Bergeron.
Bergeron has been vocal about how he butted heads with former DWTS showrunner’ Andrew Llinares, who stepped down from the show at the end of season 30 in 2021. Ahead of Linares’ run, Conrad Green was the DWTS executive producer for the show’s first 18 seasons.
In June 2022, Variety reported that original showrunner Green would return to oversee the show’s big move to Disney+. While speaking on Burke’s “Burke in the Game” podcast earlier this year, Bergeron said Green’s return was great news for “Dancing With the Stars.”
“Conrad was the first executive producer I worked with back in 2005,” he said. “I mourned his departure when he left, and I said to him, ‘If anybody’s gonna right that ship, you’re the guy.’ And so I’m thrilled for him.”
Before Green’s return to “Dancing With the Stars,” Bergeron had totally shut down the idea of ever going back to the show, despite the fan outcry over his departure. In December 2020, the Emmy-winning host told TV Insider, “When people say, ‘I’m not gonna watch until you’re back,’ I say, ‘Well, there’s really no ‘until’ here. This train has left the station.’”
But while on Burke’s podcast, Bergeron was asked what it would take for him to return to DWTS. While he noted that “there are other people in those jobs right now,” he then playfully told Burke, “Let’s just say we’ll cross that bridge should it be in front of us.”