Former Dancing With the Stars host Tom Bergeron has found himself in some hot water after controversial comments he recently made about the show’s 2018 Mirrorball winner, Bobby Bones.
In a recent interview, Bergeron described Bones’ win alongside his pro dance partner Sharna Burgess as “shocking” and claimed that he thought “ouch” when he was announced as the season winner.
His comments offended Bones so much that the radio personality publicly shared that he returned his Mirrorball trophy.
“I had a great attitude,” Bones wrote as part of a November 12 Instagram statement. “I worked hard, and here we are six years later, I'm still catching strays out of nowhere, so I sent the trophy back. They don't want me to be a part of the show, obviously,” he continued.
Now, Bergeron is issuing Bones a public apology. On November 13, he shared a screenshot of a message he sent to the radio personality in his Instagram story.
“Bobby, it wasn’t my intention to hurt your feelings,” He wrote. “My ‘ouch’ was based on my honest feeling that your win spoke to a need to address the balance between judge and viewer voting.”
“I always felt bad that you and Sharna had to deal with the aftermath of that win,” he explained. “I certainly regret pouring any salt into that old wound.”
Bergeron noted that he’s been doing a lot of interviews due to the show recently celebrating its 20th anniversary.
“I was doing so many interviews leading up to the 20th, I was bound to say something inelegantly,” he said.
Bones and Burgess defeated runner-ups Milo Manheim and Witney Carson during the 2018 season. Manheim has previously expressed that he felt “robbed” after the show’s conclusion.
