Getty Images Tom Bergeron got candid about his dad's death.
Tom Bergeron hosted “Dancing With the Stars” for 14 years. He parted ways with ABC in 2019, finding out that he was being replaced without too much notice.
“In all candor, the show that I left was not the show that I loved. So, 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,” Bergeron said on the “Bob Saget’s Here For You” podcast in September 2021.
Despite his firing, Bergeron has remained friends with several of the cast members, including pro Cheryl Burke. The two are extremely close and still keep in touch regularly. In fact, Bergeron sat down with Burke for her new podcast, “Burke in the Game.” The episode was broken into two parts and was uploaded in early September.
During their chat, Bergeron opened up about a previous episode of DWTS that he hosted just hours after that he learned that his father had died.
Here’s what you need to know:
Bergeron Got a Call About His Dad’s Death While He Was in His Dressing Room Before a Live Show
Bergeron told Burke that he received a call from his wife while he was in his dressing room getting ready for the live show back in 2015.
“My dad died on a show day,” Bergeron told Burke. “I got the call… I had been in the hospice room with him on the Friday. I said, you know, ‘I gotta do the show Monday. I have to fly tomorrow. I’ll be back on Tuesday, dad.’
“But he was starting to go in and out at that point and he was starting to see his parents — my grandparents. So, I told him, I said, ‘I’ll be back Tuesday. But if you see them, you can go to them. It’s okay,'” Bergeron recalled.
“And I fully — I didn’t know whether I would ever see him again,” he continued.
Bergeron Went on DWTS & Hosted as Normal
Bergeron told Burke that he ultimately decided to host the show that night because being busy helped him cope. He didn’t tell anyone outside of one executive producer, one camera person, and his then-co-host Erin Andrews.
Although Bergeron was given the option to “skip the dress rehearsal,” Bergeron said no.
“I need to be here,” Bergeron told his executive producer. Bergeron credited Andrews with being “a rock” for him that night.
“I didn’t even know what I was going to say at the end of the show,” Bergeron said, but it came to him just in time.
“My dad never missed a show and I’d like to think somewhere he’s not missing this one,” Bergeron said on air. After they wrapped he and Andrews went back to his dressing room and cried.
At the end of the show, producers put up a screen in honor of Bergeron’s dad, Ray Bergeron. According to E! News, Ray had cancer and died at the age of 81. Tom’s mom, Catherine “Kay” Bergeron, died four months later.
READ NEXT: DWTS Pro Underwent ‘Emergency Surgery’ After Premiere Performance