WHY Did Dancing With The Stars Replace Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews?

Aside from casting an alleged murderer, ABC made headlines by ousting Erin Andrews and Tom Bergeron as hosts of Dancing With The Stars.

Why did they sack the two beloved hosts?

Season 29 being hosted by Tyra Banks was a huge shift.

Fans were shocked. The former hosts, Erin and Tom, were shocked too.

Apparently, ABC felt that the dance competition needed a change.

Tyra Banks for DWTS Season 29 with premiere date

Executive producer Andrew Llinares explained the move at ABC's VirtuFall panel on Wednesday, September 30.

“I think it’s all about evolution," he expressed.

Llinares opined: "I think any show like this that has been on many, many seasons needs to continue to evolve.”

Erin Andrews and Tom Bergeron

“I think changing the host was all about evolution," Llinares continued on Wednesday.

"It was about making the show feel fresh," he explained.

Llinares added: "making it feel new."

Tyra Banks on Dancing with the Stars

Llinares admitted that there was a home that the shake-up would "kind of make it reach out — maybe to a new audience as well."

"As well," he concluded, "as the audience that’s been there for years.”

Some shows hope to snare an audience, get them hooked on the format, and then make unnecessary changes to attract new viewers.

Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews Pic

More has changed than just the casting.

The dance competition is now working with one host instead of two.

That creates a very different dynamic.

Tyra Banks at the BMAs

“I think it’s working brilliantly with the one host," Llinares suggested.

He added: "I think it’s really refreshed the pace of the show, actually."

“I think it’s taken it to a new pace," Llinares told reporters, "in terms of moving faster and just feeling different."

Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews on DWTS

"I think there’s a real danger when a show’s been on for a long time," Llinares claimed, "that the audience almost gets bored of the rhythm."

He clarified: "It doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it."

"It just sort of gets a little boring," Llinares added, "the rhythm of it."

Tyra Banks Waves Flag

"So," Linares stated, "I think it’s changed the rhythm of the show in a really exciting way.”

“Tyra is doing an amazing, amazing job," he praised.

It is true that Tyra is an eye-catching personality. One of our world's greatest, most treasured supervillains.

Erin Andrews on DWTS

Llinares expressed: "It’s just so wonderful to have her energy in the ballroom and her expertise as a host in the ballroom."

"I think I think she’s brought a new life to everything," he opined.

Llinares concluded his statements to reporters: "It’s really exciting.”

Tom Bergeron, Dancing with the Stars

If it sounds like he was just stringing words together in what sounded like an explanation, that doesn't necessarily mean that he's lying to cover up a "real" explanation.

Sure, that's possible, but it's every bit as possible that Llinares and others at the network genuinely think this way.

It has been said that the people who make television on the network side of things -- the ones who worry about focus groups and mess with apparent perfection -- are among the dumbest folks on earth.

Tyra Banks at 2019 AMAs

Tyra has a captivating and outrageous personality, one that has made her legendary well beyond her career.

It does make sense to employ her as a host.

Whether she will draw in a new audience to get songs that they don't like stuck in their heads so that they can watch a random hodge-podge of moderately famous people dance ... only time will tell.