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Bobby Bones is reflecting on having a "minor meltdown" due to comments made by Tom Bergeron, the former host of Dancing With the Stars, on his season 27 win.
Bergeron said on Tuesday that across 28 seasons on the show, the moment that "shocked me most" was Bones' win: "Bobby Bones was the first time it was like, 'Ouch.'"
Bones reacted by returning his Mirrorball trophy to ABC, saying Bergeron's comments "hurt my feelings so much" and noting the network "said they would give it back."
Bobby Bones is reflecting on a whirlwind week that saw him so perturbed by the comments of aDancing With the Starsformer host that he returned his trophy for winning season 27.
"I want to talk aboutDancing with the Stars," he said at the top of Saturday's episode of hisBobbycastpodcast, which featured fellowDWTSwinner Kaitlyn Bristowe. "I love talking about it. I have such a great relationship. Most of my relationship with it is awesome," Bones continued. Emphasis onmost.
Though Bones calls the production process that led to his victory over season 27 "one of the greatest experiences of my life," his win remains controversial with what he called "hardcore fans" who have "soured" the win a bit by continually claiming it was undeserved, given his low week-to-week scores. After former hostTom Bergeronseemed to agree with those fans in an interview earlier in the week, Bones said he "had a minor meltdown," leading to himreturning the coveted Mirrorball trophyto ABC.
"It hurt my feelings so much," Bones said.
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"Tom Bergeron, who I love, still love, and loved then. I was so surprised at his reaction to the question of who's one of the most surprising eliminations," Bones shared. "They didn't even ask him about me. Now had they said the question of, 'Who won that is surprising?' I'm all here. I'm the most surprising ever. I know that. I have sort of a cool title. I have total awareness of my entire situation. But it wasn't."
In an interview withParadeon Tuesday, Bergeron declined to answer the question of which elimination shocked him the most over the course of his hosting 28 seasons of the reality competition series. Instead, he volunteered, "It's funny, you're asking about eliminations. The thing that shocked me most was a win. Bobby Bones."
Bergeron compared Bones' rocky season 27 ride, which was depressed by low judges' scores but kept afloat by audience votes, toAndy Richter's arc on season 34, which recently came to an end. "He's charming and has such a big heart. Do I think he's going to win? No. Do I think he's bringing a quality to the show that epitomizes what the show is? Absolutely. But Bobby Bones was the first time it was like, 'Ouch.' No disrespect to Bobby. He would probably say the same thing."
"I'm like, 'Oh my god.' it hurt my feelings so much. I have a job where I give opinions all the time," the host of the nationally syndicatedBobby Bones Showexplained. "Whenever I create controversy, which I do at times — sometimes manufactured, sometimes not — I'm good because I know I've signed up for this. When he did that, it hurt my feelings, because that was somebody [who] was so helpful to me during the show, because he knew I was struggling."
Bones reflected that he was "made to feel I was really bad at dancing," even though he has "never been more committed to anything except my wife." As for the returned trophy, "Someone has reached out to me from the network, and they said they would give it back. It's whatever I want," Bones shared.
After hearing of Bones' reaction to his comments, Bergeron appealed to him directly via text, sharing a screenshot of their conversation on Instagram, which saw the TV star explain, "It wasn't my intention to hurt your feelings. My 'ouch' was based on my honest feeling that your win spoke to a need to address the balance between judge and viewer voting."
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Richter did chart a similar course to Bones, consistently pulling lower scores than many of his competitors, but maintaining a solid place in the advancing competition due to strong fan support. But on the eve of the semifinals, Richter was sent packing.
Rather than mourn his own loss, the comedian and longtime late-night sidekick toldEntertainment Weeklythrew his support behindthe contestant that followed him in the elimination pattern:Secret Lives of Mormon Wivesstar Whitney Leavitt.
"I think Whitney going home, to me it's absolutely insane. I mean, she's an amazing dancer," he said. "And if all the sticklers who were furious about me still being in it, who were demanding perfect technical dancing, I don't know why she would get sent home under that criterion."
You can watch Bones' full comments on theBobbycastpodcast above.
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