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'Dancing With the Stars' Host Tyra Banks Speaks Out About the Online Backlash

'Dancing With the Stars' Host Tyra Banks Speaks Out About the Online Backlash

From Good Housekeeping

  • Dancing With the Stars host Tyra Banks started as the show's new solo season 29 host this fall.

  • This summer, ABC announced that the network had parted ways with cohosts Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews, prompting anger online.

  • Though critics have been going after Tyra for weeks, the America's Next Top Model creator is not letting the haters get to her.


From the moment Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews were replaced on Dancing With the Stars with Tyra Banks, chaos ensued on Twitter.

While some were excited to see the ABC dance competition show welcome a brand new host, others were outraged, and unfairly took out their anger on Tyra. The critical remarks continued after the season 29 premiere a few weeks back, with many insulting her hosting style, calling out mistakes, and cruelly joking that they wished they could vote her off the show instead of the contestants.

But even with all the backlash, the former creator and host of America's Next Top Model is refusing to let it get her down.

“Every host messes up. It’s just normal. It’s live TV. If it wasn’t live, there would be no mess-ups,” Tyra told U.S. Weekly. “Even on America’s Next Top Model, I would mess up and tell my editors to leave it in. That’s what makes things human.”

She continued: “If I didn’t want to mess up, if I wanted to be perfect, I know how to do that. There’s a very clear way as a host that you just read the words and you’re perfect and you know exactly how to do that. But when you’re relaxed and you keep it real, the mess-ups happen. And the producer in me knows that even though somebody might be like, ‘Oh, my gosh, you’re messing up!’ it’s live, and it’s real. It’s better than being like a doll.”

Tyra's goal is to be the best host and executive producer that she can be, while trying to maintain the wonderful legacy of the 15-year show that her predecessors Tom and Erin helped build.

“It’s always challenging when you step into something. At the same time, I knew what I was getting into. The network asked me to do this. I said yes," she told TVInsider.com. "You do know when you’re stepping into something new, people are like, ‘I want what I’m used to,’ but at the same time, our ratings are up ..."

Of course, Tyra recognizes that the success of the show isn't her doing alone. "It’s the cast, it’s the judges, it’s this next-level producing that’s created this beautiful thing that more people than ever are watching," Tyra went on to say. "I’m happy to be there.”

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