Dancing With the Stars' Erin Andrews: 'I Felt Sorry for Myself' After ABC Firing
On the same day that Tyra Banks took over for her in the Dancing With the Stars ballroom, Erin Andrews reflected on the “super big bummer” that was her dismissal from the show.
“I didn’t have much time to deal with it,” Andrews shared on Monday’s episode of the Token CEO podcast. “I got a phone call, we were on the putting green with my dog and my husband, and I got a call that said, ‘So-and-so from ABC wants to talk to you.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, s—t. This is it.'”
Andrews and longtime Dancing host Tom Bergeron were both let go from the show in July, much to the surprise of viewers. At the time, ABC cited a “new creative direction” for the series — and thanked Andrews for “all that she brought to the ballroom” — before bringing in Banks to fly solo as the new host.
“I felt sorry for myself, and I was like, this is a terrible time to lose my job because we don’t know when live television is coming back,” Andrews added. “These are hard jobs to get. I was like, ‘Oh, no, I’m a loser. This is really bad.’ And then you just start talking to other people from other networks and people who have production groups, and they’re like, ‘You’re going to find something.'”
Though Andrews conceded that “nobody wants to be let go when it’s not on their terms,” she said she was trying to keep things in perspective, given how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted others.
“I did remind myself, by the way, there’s people that have such worse stuff going on right now,” she continued. “For me to be that selfish and think, ‘Oh my God, the world’s ending’ — people have lost multiple people in their families because of COVID.”
And even though Andrews still has a steady job in sports broadcasting, she said she would love another role “in the entertainment space,” including a potential gig hosting a game show.
Dancing With the Stars returned for Season 29 on Monday (read our premiere recap); the first elimination will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 8/7c.
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