Carrie Ann Inaba's 'heart breaks' over 'DWTS' host ousters, but she expects all three judges back
After a huge hosting shake-up this week on "Dancing with the Stars," Carrie Ann Inaba Thursday said "the plan" is for the show's three longtime judges, including herself, to return for the upcoming season of the ABC ballroom competition.
In a video clip released in advance of Tuesday's episode of CBS' "The Talk" (2 EDT/1 PDT), Inaba tells her fellow co-hosts that her "heart breaks" over this week's news that veteran hosts Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews are being replaced. But she also praised new host and executive producer Tyra Banks, who has hosted "America's Next Top Model" and "America's Got Talent."
Co-host Sheryl Underwood cut right to the chase, asking Inaba if she and fellow judges Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli will return for Season 29, which is planned for the fall.
Leaving 'DWTS': Hosts Tom Bergeron, Erin Andrews will be replaced on 'Dancing With the Stars'
"As of now, that is the plan," Inaba replied. "I just want everybody to know Len, Bruno and I, that is the plan, that we're coming back, but they're going to make the official announcement in a few weeks. They're just going to keep letting us know all the details, but I don't want people to worry. It seems like everything's OK."
Paste BN reached out to ABC seeking confirmation of the judges' return.
News that Bergeron, who had been with the show 15 years, and Andrews, a former contestant who became a host in 2014, would be leaving apparently came as a surprise to Inaba.
"This all happened while I was sick and I was like, 'What's going on?' I feel like it was just such sudden news and my heart breaks for Tom and Erin," she said. "We're a bonded family and I love them both so much. And I cried when I heard the news, as well as, I think, a lot of our fans did. But both of them are going to be fine" with their other career pursuits.
New host in town: Tyra Banks is new host of 'Dancing With the Stars,' replacing Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews
She said the show will do well with Banks serving as sole host.
Going forward, "DWTS" will benefit from "all that Tyra Banks is, all the energy. She's, like, a visionary. She's a strong, powerful woman. Her show, 'The Tyra Banks Show,' won Emmys," Inaba said. "I think we're in good hands."