‘Dancing with the Stars’ 18: Brooke Burke-Charvet fired weeks before premiere
“Dancing with the Stars” definitely appears to be in major cost-cutting mode, and we are getting more and more examples of that now. How so? Brooke Burke-Charvet was fired this afternoon after seven seasons as the co-host for the show, and it was done really without any prior warning or buzz. It is such a stunner to the entertainment community that is taking time to really wrap our heads around it.
The story first started to spread via RumorFix, but Brooke herself confirmed it with a statement to E! News tonight, which includes a nice little jab at ABC near the end for not exactly giving her fair warning that something is up:
“I have enjoyed seven seasons co-hosting DWTS but understand the need for change considering the position of the show at this juncture. I’ve always been one to embrace change and looking forward to pursuing opportunities I previously wasn’t able to entertain because of contractual obligations to the show. I’ve seen my fair share of shocking eliminations in the ballroom but this one takes the cake.”
Meanwhile, executive producer Conrad Green also followed this up with a statement of his own:
“We can confirm that Brooke Burke-Charvet will not be joining us next season. She’s been a wonderful part of the Dancing with the Stars family since her triumphant win in season seven and will unquestionably be missed by our entire team. We’d like to thank Brooke for her years of great service.”
We’ll be honest here and say that we’ve never been a biggest fan of Brooke or her “how does that feel?” line of questioning during the live shows, but at the same time, being told you don’t have a job a mere few weeks before the premiere is pretty uncool. We don’t understand why this decision couldn’t have been handed down a month ago.
This is not the first major change at “Dancing with the Stars” these days, as Harold Wheeler and his orchestra were also recently relieved of their duties.
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Photo: ABC