‘Dancing With the Stars’ Pros Say Tyra Banks Took Over ‘Seamlessly’ After Tom Bergeron Firing

Many Dancing With The Stars fans were worried about who would be former host Tom Bergeron‘s replacement when he was fired after 15 years leading the show. When former America’s Next Top Model host Tyra Banks got the gig, viewers were excited to see how the reality competition veteran would handle her new role. While Banks’ time on the show so far has been a bit of a mixed bag, some of the dancing pros are singing her praises.

In a new interview with Us Weekly, dancing pros Sasha Farber and Emma Slater had only good things to say about Banks. While COVID-19 regulations kept them from getting to know each other well, the married couple sang the super model’s praises. “I think she did an amazing job,” Slater told Us. “I really did. I think her personality. … She’s larger than life. She’s absolutely gorgeous. I would have loved to have gotten to know her more on a personal level. Because of COVID we couldn’t, but I think she did a phenomenal job.”

Slater also gave Banks credit for handling a major snafu in just the second week of the season: announcing that the wrong couple was safe. “The way that she handled that situation when there was sort of misinformation between her cue cards and the prompter, I actually thought she did a really great job with that,” she explained. “That was a difficult situation and not many people could have really handled that, and I think that she did it kind of seamlessly. So … kudos to her. She did a great job.”

At this point in time, it hasn’t been announced whether or not Banks or Slater will be back for season 30 in the fall, but Slater hopes they can spend more time together if she does. “I feel like now, hopefully with this [new] season, I don’t know how the COVID restrictions are going to go,” Slater said. “Like, we really don’t know anything. If I’m back, I definitely will [reach out to Banks]. We’ll be, like, knocking on Tyra’s door and be like, ‘Hey, let’s hang.’”

Farber agreed with his wife and praised the Dancing With The Stars team for keeping everyone safe while filming during the pandemic. “I think the show did such a great job,” he said. “Like, that’s when COVID was in the midst of it and we were the only show that did a live show in the studio and we managed to do it so safely. The crew were incredible.” The couple also revealed that they were still in touch with Bergeron and his former co-host Erin Andrews, who was fired at the same time, and that they would “always be family.”

“I’ve texted Tom,” Slater said. “We texted Erin a little bit beforehand, but I’ve texted Tom [for] a birthday of his [and] wished him a happy birthday. [He] says, well, ‘We’ve got to meet up.’”