Former Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron has opened up about his abrupt exit from the dancing competition series.
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The veteran TV star, who is also known to audiences for hosting America's Funniest Home Videos, helmed the ABC show for 14 years but was sacked along with co-host Erin Andrews in July 2020 ahead of last year's season.
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Opening up for the first time about his shocking exit on Bob Saget's Here for You podcast, Tom admitted that he "kind of knew" that his time on the show was coming to an end following a clash with producers.
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The 66-year-old explained: "In all candor, the show that I left was not the show that I loved... The end of the season that turned out to be my last season, I kind of knew. So I took everything out of my dressing room that I really wanted… It was kind of obvious that we were butting heads.
© Photo: Getty ImagesTom Bergeron hosted the show between 2005 and 2019
"The show had changed a lot for me starting in early 2008," he continued. "We had very clear, sometimes public, differences of opinion about the new showrunner and some of the execs and happily, I was at a point in my life and career where I didn't have to just shut up and take it.
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"I decided to go public with some concerns I had at that time and I think that set the stage for it," he added, referring to his public dispute with show bosses following their signing of former Trump administration spokesperson Sean Spicer to compete on the 2019 series of the show.
Following Tom and Erin's exits, former America's Next Top Model host Tyra Banks joined the show as host. At the time, producer Andrew Llinares said the presenting change was an attempt to make the series "feel fresh, feel new, maybe make it reach out to a new audience".
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