Former ‘DWTS’ Co-Host Erin Andrews Responds To Tyra Banks’ Comments, Calls Tom Bergeron ‘The Man’

Erin Andrews has responded after new Dancing with the Stars host and executive producer Tyra Banks admitted that taking over her hosting role will be challenging. The former co-host, who was let go alongside Tom Bergeron earlier this year, shared her thoughts on Tyra’s remarks and praised Tom as “the man” in a new interview.

Erin made the comments during the Thursday, September 10 episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen as she appeared remotely from home via video call. She took on fan questions and got pretty candid when one viewer asked what she thought about Tyra previously admitting it “will be a challenge to step into [Erin’s] shoes as the new host of ‘Dancing With the Stars.'”

“That’s better than her saying, ‘It’s gonna be easy taking over for this broad!’ So I guess that’s great? I don’t know,” Erin said with a laugh, per Entertainment Tonight.

Erin went on to share her love for Tom, who she first co-hosted the ABC series with in 2014. She admitted she thinks Tyra will have a harder time replacing him than her.

“Tom’s shoes are a little harder to fill. He’s the guy…the quarterback of the ballroom. So, that’s nice of her, but he’s the man, and he was the man on that show.”

Erin and Tom appeared on 10 seasons together after she took over from Brooke Burke, who co-hosted from 2010 until 2013. They first co-hosted on Season 18 and appeared together all the way through Season 28 last year. Before that, Erin competed on DWTS as a contestant in 2010 when she finished in 3rd place with Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

Tom hosted the show since it first began in 2005 but confirmed in July that he had not been asked back. It was announced shortly afterward that Erin would also not be returning and Tyra would be stepping in.

Tyra replacing Tom and Erin has proved to be a controversial move, with many viewers repeatedly sharing their displeasure over the big shake-up on social media.

Earlier this week, Tyra addressed the backlash and admitted that she hasn’t spoken to Tom but wants to call him “so bad.”

“I have some serious shoes to fill and he’s very, very talented,” she told Glamour.

The America’s Next Top Model mogul also shared that she hopes those who are not happy about her new role will change their minds.

“I hope they say, ‘You know what, I’m going to stick with this.’ Like, ‘Wow…I was wrong about that,'” she said.