Dancing with the Stars: What did Tom Bergeron mean with Witney Carson comment?

Tom Bergeron is typically known as the master of witty comments on Dancing with the Stars. There are few people who are better at being this quick witted and off-the-cuff than he is, and he can turn a dull moment into an uproarious one in the blink of an eye.

Unfortunately, not every quick comment can be a winner and there was a prime example of this on Monday night’s performance show. What happened was fairly simple: Following the performance of Frankie Muniz and Witney Carson, Carrie Ann Inaba said in her criticism “I look for mistakes, but I don’t see them – except for when you almost lost control of Witney.” This prompted Bergeron, in turn, to say “I’m guessing he’s not the first guy whose lost control of Witney.” This comment led to a few gasps in the audience, and many online interpreted it in a negative way in the midst of so many stories these days about men trying to control women — let alone some other unspeakable things. (CarterMatt has a video of this incident the bottom of this article if you haven’t had a chance to check it out.)

After the show, Carson told People Magazine that she didn’t quite understand what Bergeron meant with the comment:

“I don’t know, you guys. I didn’t really get it at first because I was like, I don’t really get what that means, but yeah, thanks. Thanks for whatever that was … But I’m just going to brush it off, and I hope you guys do too.”

Meanwhile, Bergeron retweeted a comment this morning suggesting that he meant the joke as a compliment, and that she was a strong person who couldn’t be controlled by men or anyone else.

As someone who has watched Bergeron ever since he hosted Hollywood Squares our perception of him has always been as a professional lighthearted goofball, someone who tries to make everyone feel comfortable while having a great time. On Dancing with the Stars he seems intent on trying to support the celebrities and the pros, and likes to paint the judges as the bad guys in the room. We’d like to give Bergeron the benefit of the doubt in this situation and say that he intended this comment not to be disparaging. Not every quip is a winner, and unfortunately for him this is one he probably regrets.

What did you think about Bergeron’s comment when it happened, and Witney’s response to it now? Share in the comments section below.

Meanwhile, be sure to click here to read more about Terrell Owens’ elimination and like us on Facebook to retrieve some more news on Dancing with the Stars and some other shows we cover. (Photo: ABC.)