There are a lot of risks involved with almost any production that is broadcasted live and, as a result, mistakes are bound to happen. Tyra Banks knows this all too well, as she had a massive blunder on Dancing with the Stars last season when she announced the wrong dancing couple as being safe from elimination. Banks has further explained what went on to cause the mistake, citing the “craziness” that happens beyond what viewers can see on camera.
As viewers, it's easy for us to critique what we see on our screens, as we can almost instantly put blame on someone for a mistake on live TV. But in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Tyra Banks claimed that the mistake that happened last season of Dancing with the Stars was not her fault. Still, she understands why she, “the talent,” would be blamed for it. According to Banks, the situation ultimately had to to do with what goes on behind the scenes. Here is how the celebrity competitive dancing show host explained it, exactly:
People see my face; they don't know there are things in my ears, and there are directors and things, people saying stuff to me… but the world sees me. They don't understand that there's a whole thing going on, and so I take the darts and have chosen to be talent in the entertainment industry, and that's who the world sees. So the world is angry at the talent. But there's a whole control room, and things happening, and craziness going on that I'm fed [in my ear] certain things, say certain things that I'm told.
Tyra Banks is no stranger to hosting popular shows. The model turned-actress-and-TV-personality has hosted and created a number of TV programs and had her own talk show for a few years. While most of Banks' past TV productions weren't actually live, she did have a stint as the America’s Got Talent host and has appeared live an almost countless amount of times as a talk show guest over the years. And that live aspect of Dancing with the Stars seems to be a different beast entirely. I mean, there are no second takes or quick fixes to blunders like calling out the wrong winner or making a less than appropriate joke.
The mishap with Dancing with the Stars last season does seem to be the biggest slip-up Tyra Banks has had in her long history with television hosting, which makes her her earpiece explanation understandable. Banks did, however, say in the same interview that she's willing to be that face that everyone blames for similar mistakes and does accept that she is a part of an unseen team. Here it is in her own words:
But it is what it is. We're a team. And sometimes you have to take darts for the team, and I took them and will continue to take them. Our team will make mistakes. They see my face and that's what's gets written up, and that's the choice that I've made to be on television.
Even though some fans are hoping for Tom Bergeron back, the mistake from last season doesn’t seem to have affected Tyra Banks' place as the face of the long-running ABC series. She'll return as the host of Dancing with the Stars when Season 30 premieres on September 30th - hopefully with no live mishaps.
