‘Dancing With the Stars’ Pro Witney Carson Weighs in on Tyra Banks Replacing Tom Bergeron

Dancing With the Stars is going to look very different come Season 29. In mid-July, Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews were fired as hosts of the series with Tyra Banks later announced as their replacement. Many members of the DWTS family have weighed in on this matter. Witney Carson, who will not return for Season 29 because she is currently pregnant with her first child, recently shared what she thought of the shake-ups during an interview with Entertainment Tonight. While she did lament the fact that Bergeron, who served as the host for all 28 seasons, will not return to the show, she did express her excitement over Banks joining the dancing family.

Carson told ET that the professional dancers were told that the show would be getting a new host, but they were not alerted to the fact that it would be Banks taking over hosting duties. “I’m really excited about Tyra, that’s amazing news. I think she’s going to be amazing, but it definitely will be very different,” Carson explained. “I mean, I’ve correlated the show Dancing With the Stars with Tom, so for him not to be there, it’s definitely a huge change. But I think change is good sometimes.” She went on to share that she’s especially excited to see Banks at the helm because she was a big fan of her work on America’s Next Top Model.

“I’m also a huge fan of America’s Next Top Model. I kinda grew up watching Tyra, so she’s a little bit nostalgic for me, and I think it’ll bring back a lot of nostalgia for people,” the dancer continued. “I think that she is pretty relatable. She’s really good on TV; she knows how to host, obviously. It will just be interesting to see her in the dancing realm. Like, I’m not sure how that’s gonna go, but I think she’s gonna be great. It will be really interesting to watch, for sure.” Banks was announced as the new host of DWTS shortly after Bergeron and Andrews were let go. She will also serve as one of the show’s executive producers. The decision to replace Bergeron and Andrews with Banks came as a part of a new “creative direction” that DWTS will be going in for Season 29, as ABC shared.

Bergeron was actually the first one to share the news of his firing. On July 13, he told his followers on Twitter that he just heard the news about his future with the series. He added, “It’s been an incredible 15-year run and the most unexpected gift of my career. I’m grateful for that and for the lifelong friendships made. That said, now what am I supposed to do with all of these glitter masks?”