Part of her plan. Ever since Tyra Banks stepped into the very big shoes left behind by Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews on Dancing With the Stars, she’s felt the pressure. Although she’s received some criticism, she’s taking it all in stride — and actually is doing some of it on purpose.
“Every host messes up. It’s just normal. It’s live TV. If it wasn’t live, there would be no mess-ups,” Banks, 46, told Us Weekly exclusively after the Monday, September 28, episode. “Even on America’s Next Top Model, I would mess up and tell my editors to leave it in. That’s what makes things human and makes like live.”
The supermodel noted that part of being a good host is the not-so-perfect moments.
“If I didn’t want to mess up, if I wanted to be perfect, I know how to do that,” the True Beauty creator said. “There’s a very clear way as a host that you just read the words and you’re perfect and you know exactly how to do that. But when you’re relaxed and you keep it real, the mess-ups happen. And the producer in me knows that even though somebody might be like, ‘Oh, my gosh, you’re messing up!’ it’s live, and it’s real. It’s better than being like a doll.”
The Modelland author noted she’s been hosting for 25 years — so she is intentionally changing things up when it comes to reading the prompter in the ballroom.
“I know how to read a prompter perfectly, but I also skip around prompter to make it as real as possible, knowing that when you skip around prompter, you’re going to mess up,” she added. “It’s just normal and it keeps it real.”
The two-time Daytime Emmy winner noted that she feels “so much more comfortable” after Disney week than she did at the beginning of the show and never lets the negative comments get to her.
Banks took over as season 29 host after Bergeron, 65, and Andrews, 42, were axed from the series. Bergeron had hosted the show since its 2005 debut and the sportscaster joined in 2014.
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
