'Dancing with the Stars' host Tyra Banks claims she took months to accept hosting offer -- "I sat on it for months"

Dancing with the Stars host Tyra Banks claims she sat on the offer to host the show's 29th season "for months" and only accepted the position after a lot of consideration.


Dancing with the Stars has a drastic new look after Tyra replaced longtime Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron and his co-host Eric Andrews.

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During a recent appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden, Tyra recalled that moment when ABC reached out to her about the huge Dancing with the Stars opportunity.

"They called me and were like, 'Are you interested in this?' This was earlier this year," Tyra, 46, said on Thursday, according to Us Weekly.


"And I'm like, 'You're calling me and asking me this? I would never in a million years think that I'd be asked to host.' So it took me months. I sat on it for months."

As previously announced in July, the supermodel and former America's Got Talent and America's Next Top Model host joined Dancing with the Stars as its new host and executive producer because the show is embarking on "a new creative direction."

Many fans were especially disappointed to see Tom go considering he had served as the host of Dancing with the Stars since the series premiered on ABC in 2005 -- a span that covered 28 seasons and over 400 episodes.

Tyra looked back on the big decision she had to make and revealed, "I asked friends and finally, I asked my mom. She was like, 'Girl, I'm the first person that told you about that damn show! I told you to turn on the TV. The stars is dancing,'" according to Us.

"She was the first person to tell me and I turned it on and couldn't look away. And so I said, 'Yeah, I think I can bring something to this.'"


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Tyra reportedly added that she's "having a really, really good time" on the show and ultimately feels she "made the right decision" by taking the job.

However, Tyra has received backlash from many Dancing with the Stars fans for flubbing her lines.

"Every host messes up. It's just normal, it's live TV," Tyra told the magazine after Dancing with the Stars' September 28 episode.

"If it wasn't live, there would be no mess ups. But 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 and makes things alive."
     
"If I didn't want to mess up, if I wanted to be perfect, I know how to do that," she continued.


"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 relax and you keep it real, the mess ups happen, and the producer in me knows... it's live and it's real and it's better than being a doll."

Tyra insisted she knows how to "read a prompter perfectly."

"But I also skip around the prompter to make it as real as possible knowing that... [I'm] going to mess up. It's just normal and keeps it real," she explained.

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After hosting several episodes of Dancing with the Stars, Tyra revealed she's "so much more comfortable" on the set now and being in the ballroom is settling into her "bones."


"[I'm] just chilling," Tyra said of hosting the show. "I feel really good."

In fact, Tyra said she believes hosting Dancing with the Stars is "so much easier" than some of her past hosting or producing gigs, especially in comparison to her former talk show.

"This is joy and light and happiness, and so it's a lot easier," Tyra noted.

"There is a lot on the technical side of hosting [DWTS]... and cuing myself that I'm not used to, so that part is a little more difficult. But the love and spirit in the room is still so beautiful."

Tyra admitted to the magazine last month it was definitely going to be a "challenge" to fill Tom and Erin's shoes on Dancing with the Stars.


"I mean, you know, Tom Bergeron and Erin. They lead the show, this is one of the top-rated shows in the world," Tyra said at the time.

"So [I'm] respecting the stage that they have set and then adding my icing to that. I feel confident about that, but of course, it's a challenge, but I don't back away from challenges."

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Tyra isn't the only aspect of Dancing with the Stars' 29th season people are complaining about as the show gets a facelift.

Celebrities Nelly and Johnny Weir, for example, recently complained Dancing with the Stars judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli are too "harsh" and even "whack."

Derek, who also judged World of Dance, has taken over for former DWTS lead judge Len Goodman because Len can't risk his health by traveling back and forth from London to the United States amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.


Dancing with the Stars currently airs Monday nights at 8PM ET/PT on ABC, and 13 celebrities remain in the running to win the coveted mirrorball trophy.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski