Bobby Bones says he returned his Dancing With the Stars mirrorball trophy after being slighted by the show’s former host, Tom Bergeron.
Bones, 45, revealed the news to his TikTok followers on Wednesday, November 12, saying he was hurt by comments that Bergeron, 70, made to Parade earlier this week. The ABC dance competition’s ex-emcee told the outlet that he felt “shocked” by Bones’ 2018 victory and said it “was the the first time it was like, ‘Ouch.’”
The day after the outlet published the story, Bones aired his vulnerable reaction on social media.
“I try not to get my feelings hurt, especially about stuff like this, but this was hurtful,” Bones said Wednesday. “And not because of what was said, but really who said it.”
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The radio personality said that he likes and admires Bergeron, but felt he was taking a cheap shot at him.
“I didn’t even wanna be on the show,” Bones recalled. “I had no intention of being on Dancing with the Stars. I was working on a different show at the network, they asked me to go on the show to promote. Am I supposed to not show up and work hard? Am I supposed to not give it freaking everything that I have? Am I supposed to, like, throw it and not win?”
He continued, “Like, it’s crazy the amount of hate I get, even from people I respect like Tom Bergeron” and Julianne Hough, one of the show’s new hosts.
Bones said he feels “like a sixth grader and all the ninth-grade Dancing kids are shoving me in lockers.”
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With exasperation, he pondered: “Like, what did I do? I had a great attitude. I worked hard, and here we are, like 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. So I don’t wanna be somewhere that doesn’t want me to be there.”
He repeated, “So I sent the trophy back to ABC. I no longer have the Mirrorball trophy.”
While he had “loved” being on the show, he confessed that the ongoing negative commentary by members of the DWTS universe has “taken all the joy away from my time [as a contestant].”
Bones remembered having “such a great, joyous time. Even though I was the only one in the whole crew that was dancing that had a full-time job at the same time.”
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Bergeron has since apologized to Bones. On Wednesday, he took to his Instagram Stories and shared a screenshot of a direct message that he sent to the slighted winner.
“Bobby, it wasn’t my intention to hurt your feelings,” Bergeron said. “My ‘ouch’ was based on my honest feeling that your win spoke to a need to address the balance between judge and viewer voting.”
He added, “I always felt bad that you & Sharna [Burgess] had to deal with the aftermath of that win & I certainly regret pouring any salt into that old wound.”
