Staying positive. Sean Spicer has no ill will toward Dancing With the Stars host Tom Bergeron — but they also never smoothed things over, he told Us Weekly exclusively on Tuesday, November 12, one day after he was eliminated.
“I would stand by my comments at the beginning of the show, which were just that I think the ability to bring a bunch of people together from very diverse backgrounds and watch them get together and care about each other is something that we need more of not less of,” the former White House press secretary, 48, said when asked if he had a message for the longtime host. “The show can be a great example of that and is a great example of that. I just think that not allowing those things to happen will continue to create a sense of divisiveness.”‘
Spicer also said that this season was “proof of the good that can come of these kinds of interactions.”
After the politician was cast on the season, many viewers lashed out on social media — including the 64-year-old TV personality.
“A few months ago, during a lunch with DWTS‘ new Executive Producer, I offered suggestions for Season 28. Chief among them was my hope that DWTS, in its returning following an unprecedented year-long hiatus, would be a joyful respite from our exhausting political climate and free of inevitably divisive bookings from ANY party affiliations,” Bergeron wrote in a lengthy statement on Twitter in August. “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 continued: “It is the prerogative of the producers, in partnership with the network, to make whatever decisions they feel are in the best long term interests of the franchise. We can agree to disagree, as we do now, but ultimately it’s their call. I’ll let it to them to answer any further questions about those decisions.”
Ultimately, Spicer is thrilled for the time he had on the show and the people he met. “I took away a great, great experience,” he told Us. “I took away a lot of great relationships, a lot of good memories.”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Kayley Stumpe
