‘Dancing with the Stars 21’: Tom Bergeron to miss Monday show to care for ailing father

It is turning to that Monday night’s new episode of “Dancing with the Stars” is going to feature heavily a wide array of emotional stories. We already knew that contestant Alek Skarlatos will be continuing to cope with the tragic shooting in Oregon, and it has now been confirmed that host Tom Bergeron will not be in attendance for the show.

In a post on Twitter, Bergeron himself confirmed that he is traveling home to be with his ailing father. The message tonight is certainly touching, and will more than likely get you a little bit teary.

According to People Magazine, former show champion and recent guest judge Alfonso Ribeiro is preparing to step in as a replacement for Tom in the role. This makes sense for ABC for a number of different reasons:

1. Being such a recent contestant, he knows a thing or two about how it is run. He also has the history of being on TV and performing in front of a live audience with humor thanks to “Fresh Prince of Bel Air.”

2. This is some corporate synergy for ABC, given that they are also airing Ribeiro’s version of “America’s Funniest Home Videos” on Sunday nights. This cross-promotion is one of the reasons why he appeared as a guest judge in the first place.

Our thoughts go out to Tom and his family during his time of need. He has entertained us and provided us comedy even through sad times, and as done so without so much as a plea for anything on our end. Therefore, it is the least we can do to send him some love.

If you do want to get our “Dancing with the Stars” contestant rankings moving into Monday’s episode, you can see them over at this link. Also, be sure to sign up right away to get some other TV news on everything we cover, courtesy of our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)