“Dancing with the Stars” host Tom Bergeron voiced his displeasure Wednesday with the addition of former White House press secretary Sean Spicer for the show’s 28th season.
Mr. Bergeron tweeted a statement after the full cast announcement, saying he wanted the long-running ABC show to be a “joyful respite from our exhausting political climate” and didn’t want “divisive bookings from ANY party affiliation.”
“I left that lunch convinced we were in agreement. Subsequently (and rather obviously), a decision was made to, as we often say in Hollywood, ’go in a different direction,’” he wrote.
Though he went unnamed in Mr. Bergeron’s statement, Mr. Spicer, who served as President Trump’s press secretary for six months, is the only member of the cast who has made their career in politics.
Mr. Bergeron wrote he and the producers can “agree to disagree” about the casting and said he looks forward to hosting the new season.
The host nevertheless took a jab at Mr. Spicer when the cast was announced on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” joking he will “be in charge of assessing audience size” — likely a reference to a Spicer press briefing where he claimed Mr. Trump’s 2017 inauguration crowd size was “the largest audience” ever.
Since leaving the White House, Mr. Spicer has become an Extra TV reporter and launched a conservative political consultancy business helping with online fundraising and social media.
He said his strategy for winning will be to “work really, really, really hard every day.”
“I was kicked out of band in sixth grade and the quote was, ’You have the sense of beat of a steamroller,’” Mr. Spicer admitted.
Mr. Spicer will be competing against “Queer Eye” host Karamo Brown, actor James Van Der Beek, model Christine Brinkley and athletes Lamar Odom and Ray Lewis.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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