Last week, we reported that a producer on “Dancing with The Stars” had spoken out to defend firing Tom Bergeron and his cohost Erin Andrews from the show and replacing them with supermodel Tyra Banks. Now, Bergeron is firing back with his trademark sense of humor.

“I think it’s all about evolution,” executive producer Andrew Llinares said during ABC’s VirtuFall panel on Wednesday. “I think changing the host was all about evolution, it was about making the show feel fresh, making it feel new [and] kind of make it reach out — maybe to a new audience as well, as well as the audience that’s been there for years. … I think there’s a real danger when a show’s been on for a long time that the audience almost gets bored of the rhythm.”

Bergeron later reacted to Llinares’ comments on Twitter.

“SEE @ErinAndrews, I TOLD you we shouldn’t have sabotaged the spray tanner!!” Bergeron wrote alongside a screenshot of a headline about Llinares’ remarks.

“UGGGGHHH @Tom_Bergeron! I’m the one that WARNED you that the sequins weren’t shiny enough,” Andrews responded.

Fans were particularly stunned by Bergeron’s firing, given the fact that he had been with the show ever since it premiered back in 2005. Banks even admitted last month that replacing him and Andrews would be a “challenge.”

“I mean, you know, Tom Bergeron and Erin. They lead the show, this is one of the top-rated shows in the world,” Banks told US Weekly. “So [I’m] respecting the stage that they have set and then adding my icing to that. I feel confident about that, but of course, it’s a challenge, but I don’t back away from challenges.”

Despite the fact that there has been tons of backlash from fans for the firings, Llinares defended the move, saying that it was all about keeping the show “relevant.”

“When a show’s been on for this many seasons, it’s very easy to stay in a place where it doesn’t feel like there’s anything wrong but does the show feel fresh, exciting and new? It’s really tough…,” Llinares explained. “We’ve always been successful on all those shows where we continue to evolve and continue to move things on. That’s something we’ve been doing right across the board with this show.”

“The host is part of it, bringing Derek in is part of it, but also throughout the fabric of everything on the show — the set has been updated, it feels more current and the way we’re filming the packages… all of those things take the show into a place where it feels more current,” he added. “We wanted to make the show feel relevant, but still hold on to the heart of the show.”

This piece originally appeared in UpliftingToday.com and is used by permission.

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