In a recent interview, a former co-star of Tyra Banks had some strong words for why the supermodel was hired on “Dancing With the Stars.” Here is what model and former “America’s Next Top Model” judge Janice Dickinson had to say on the “Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef” podcast.
Dickinson Thinks Banks Was Hired For Diversity
On the podcast, Banks was a hot topic of discussion because Dickinson has never been shy about voicing her dislike of her former “America’s Next Top Model” colleague.
When talking about “America’s Next Top Model” on the podcast, Dickinson said of her six seasons on the show, “Sitting next to Tyra for hours and hours can be daunting because she didn’t really like me and we didn’t really get along.”
Host Yontef asked Dickinson if she regrets anything she has said over the years about Banks and she said, “I don’t regret anything. I never received a thank-you note from leaving her show. She never kept in contact with me or never said anything nice about me, so why should I say anything nice about her? I’m really not the type of person to take the high road when I’ve been burned.”
Dickinson did say that she has “apologized to [Banks] in the past” for being “incredibly crude” toward her, but she went right on to say that Banks was only hired at “Dancing With the Stars” for diversity.
Yontef asked if Dickinson knows why Banks keeps getting hired “because her reputation is bad,” and Dickinson said that she (Dickinson) would be getting hired too if she wasn’t white.
“I think I would be getting [high-profile jobs] too if it weren’t for the color of my skin. They like diversity on television these days and now that we have a fantastic African-American Asian vice president, there’s going to be a lot more diversity coming in. Look out for the change,” said Dickinson.
She added, “I haven’t watched her on the show, but I can’t imagine it’s done any boost for the ratings … no one likes her on the show.”
In fact, the ratings did go up just slightly year-over-year in the 18-49 demographic between season 28 and season 29, and the “Dancing With the Stars” professional dancers cannot say enough good things about Banks as the new host, though some fans do speculate that that’s because Banks is an executive producer and they don’t want to lose their jobs.
Dickinson Said Maybe Just Replacing Erin Andrews Was the Way to Go
Dickinson acknowledged that former “Dancing With the Stars” host Tom Bergeron “was great” at his job and she doesn’t understand why he was fired too. Instead, she thinks maybe they could have kept him and hired Banks as his co-host.
“[Bergeron and Banks] would’ve been like Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum [from ‘Project Runway’], a nice-off set,” said Dickinson.
Dickinson’s friend, Joey Santos, who was also on the podcast, agreed with that assessment, saying at least “Dancing With the Stars” puts Banks in fabulous gowns.
“Well, ‘Dancing With the Stars’ needed [diversity]. It was white judges, [Erin Andrews is white]. And Erin had her thing, she was a little doll, and I think for Tyra, at least they do these incredible gowns and things on her,” said Santos.
What do you think, fans? Do you agree with Dickinson’s assessment of what happened on “Dancing With the Stars” when they changed hosts?
“Dancing With the Stars” season 30 premieres Monday, September 20 at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times on ABC.
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