This morning on Good Morning America, they announced who will be dancing this season on Dancing with the Stars. There was one name that stood out and not in a good way.
People immediately took to Twitter to declare their disgust that they asked Sean Spicer to put on his Boogie Shoes. They were not alone, host Tom Bergeron was also not happy with the decision. However, his reason is a little different than theirs.
A few months ago, during a lunch with DWTS’ new Executive Producer, I offered suggestions for Season 28. Chief among them was my hope that DWTS, in its return following an unprecedented year-long hiatus, would be a joyful respite from our of inevitably divisive bookings from ANY party affiliations. I left that lunch convinced we were in agreement.
Subsequently (and rather obviously), a decision was made to, as we often say in Hollywood, “go in a different direction.”
It is the prerogative of the producers, in partnership with the network, to make whatever decisions they feel are in the best long term interests of the franchise. We can agree to disagree, it’s their call. I’ll leave it to them to answer any further questions about those decisions.
For me, as host, I always gaze into the camera’s lens and imagine you on the other side, looking for a two hour escape from whatever life hassles you’ve been wrestling with. That’s a connection, and a which I take very seriously, even if I occasionally season it with dad jokes.
Hopefully, when Erin Andrews and Rook into those lenses again September 16, you’ll be on the other side looking back, able to enjoy the charismatic pro dancers, the unpredictable judges and the kitschy charm exhausting political climate and free as we do now, but ultimately responsibility, on that has defined DWTS since 2005.
I side with Bergeron on this. We get way too much politics during the day, I want to escape it with primetime TV. Hopefully, this show will still be an escape.
Although, I wonder if the man, who hid in the bushes at the White House, will be brave enough to deal with all of the controversy he is bringing to the dancing competition. As in, will he quit before the show premieres on Septemeber 16th? Or go for the easy way out and claim he was injured and have to bow out like Jewel and Nancy O’Dell?
How do you feel about Sean Spicer being on DWTS?
