Samantha Harris on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ during season 6 in 2008.Photo:Kelsey McNeal/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Kelsey McNeal/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Samantha Harrisis sharing some shocking claims aboutDancing with the Starsproducers who allegedly asked her to change her appearance.
On the latest episode of theSex, Lies, and Spray Tanspodcast, Harris — who co-hosted the ABC dance competition withTom Bergeronfrom 2006 to 2009 — alleged that producers told her to “gain weight” and stop tanning in order to differentiate herself from the show’s pro dancers.
“I remember — I won’t say who in the network or executive team said this — but I remember I got a note,” Harris, 50, claimed to podcast host and former proCheryl Burke. “I got actually called into a meeting and they said, ‘So Samantha, going to the next season…’ My interpretation was they said to me, ‘You need to be pasty and pudgy.’”
“But really what they said to me was you’re getting too tan and too toned that the viewers — and I’d like to give all of you listening as viewers a lot more credit then what they said — but the viewers are confusing you with the dancers because you’re too tanned and too toned,” she alleged.
Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris co-hosting ‘Dancing with the Stars’.Adam Larkey/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Adam Larkey/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
“And so that’s confusing for them and they need to be able to relate to you as the host being basically a complete dichotomy next to the dancers," she continued, “so we need you to stop doing any self-tanning — which I’ll be honest, I tanned as much as you guys did — and to gain weight.”
Samantha Harris hosting ‘Dancing with the Stars’ beside Cheryl Burke and Ian Ziering.Kelsey McNeal/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Harrissaid she was able to take the request in stride because she was pregnant with daughter Josselyn Sydney, now 16, unbeknownst to the producers.
“I say usually you’re told to lose weight. I was actually told to gain weight,” she claimed. “So, of course, I said, ‘Okay, of course, no problem. I got that covered’ because little did they know — it was too early for me to share yet — I was pregnant, so I wasn’t going to be tanning because I didn’t know what the chemicals were that would be seeping into my body and I was gonna be gaining weight. So there you go.”
Samantha Harris co-hosting ‘Dancing with the Stars’ beside Marissa Jaret Winokur and her professional partner Tony Dovolani in season 6.Kelsey McNeal/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Sports broadcasterErin Andrewsthen stepped into co-hosting duties and remained on the ABC dance competition series with Bergeron through season 28 in 2019. At the conclusion of season 28, itwas announcedthat Andrews and Bergeron were bothleaving the show.
In September 2020, modelTyra Bankswas hired as the sole host for seasons 29-31. She announced her exit from the series in March 2023, and shortly after, it was confirmed thatJulianne HoughandAlfonso Ribeirowould be stepping into the co-hosting gig.
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Dancing with the Starscan be streamed on Hulu and Disney+.
source: people.com
