Getty Tom Bergeron
Former “Dancing With the Stars” host Tom Bergeron has fans all a-flutter with his response to the report that former executive producer Conrad Green is possibly returning to the show.
Here is what happened and how Bergeron responded:
Green is in Advanced Talks to Return to ‘Dancing With the Stars’
According to a new report from Deadline, former executive producer Conrad Green is in advanced talks to return to “Dancing With the Stars” now that executive producer Andrew Llinares has stepped down from his position.
Green started on “Dancing With the Stars” when the show premiered in 2005 and worked as executive producer until the end of the 18th season in the spring of 2014. He held the position for over 200 episodes and earned nine Emmy nominations.
Llinares was brought on ahead of season 26 in 2018 and was the person running the show when it scaled down to only airing once a year and when they fired longtime host Bergeron and his co-host Erin Andrews. Llinares was also responsible for hiring Tyra Banks, who has not been popular with viewers. In fact, an April 2022 report from The Sun says that Banks is on her way out and production is in chaos, which might be why the show is trying to bring Green back.
Bergeron Had a Typical Hilarious Response to the News
On Twitter, Bergeron posted the Deadline article about Green’s possible return and wrote, “Lazarus 2.0” with a clapping emoji, which is both hilarious and had fans all a-flutter about what this might mean for “Dancing With the Stars.”
“Hope you will reconsider and come back. That will truly make #DWTS special. They need to bring the Brinks truck AND make you a producer,” wrote one fan on Twitter. “You know what works. You have always engaged the fans and we love hearing from you. You know what we want! Please Please Please!!!!!”
Another wrote, “I hope Mr. Green makes the right changes and brings you back. You are missed in the biggest way!”
“We miss you and Erin so much. We fast forward Tyra and her costume changes and inane chatter. Please please please come back and make us happy again. We really need it now,” wrote a third fan.
Many other fans left messages begging Green to bring Bergeron back to the show. Unfortunately, Bergeron has weighed in on whether the show moving to Disney Plus would get him to return if they asked him to and his answer didn’t leave fans with a lot of hope about his return. But maybe his old friend Green could convince him? In a follow-up tweet, Bergeron called Green a “class act” and said, “Whatever the show becomes going forward, if he’s at the helm, it may yet have spring in it’s step.”
Part of Deadline’s report said that the outlet heard “that some of the DWTS pros and judges already were told about Green’s possible return and are elated about the news,” so it sounds as though he was a popular executive producer. He was certainly a passionate fan of the show. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter when he left “Dancing With the Stars” in the spring of 2014, Green said it had been really special to watch the show grow in popularity over the years.
“I feel like I’ve seen the show grow from nothing to this great big thing now. It’s brilliant when you meet people in the audience and you see the joy and delight — they’ve come from all over the country and you’ve made their year because they’ve got to come watch it. When you realize how much people enjoy it — and it’s such a positive show, ultimately — it’s heart-wrenching,” said Green.
He added, “[S]eeing some of the more negative comments about [the show] can be a bit soul-destroying. You’re trying to make something that’s genuinely joyous and fun and positive and exciting. I think we all feel proud. … [I]t’s pretty cool to be able to bring back this kind of old-fashioned, theatrical showy performance to TV and actually prove it can work in the modern world.”
“Dancing With the Stars” returns for its 31st season in the fall of 2022 on Disney Plus.
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