Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer's big job before joining Dancing With the Stars Season 28 was answering (or dodging) tough questions and trying to find a positive spin on controversies. So this whole to-do about his inclusion in the 2019 cast is right in his wheelhouse.
The Dancing With the Stars cast was just revealed on Wednesday, and host Tom Bergeron reacted to Sean Spicer's inclusion without mentioning him by name. Bergeron said he had told the new executive producer he was hoping the show could return after its one-year absence as a "joyful respite" away from the current exhausting political climate, with no stars with any party affiliations.
Well, Sean Spicer's casting, and Tom Bergeron's reaction, only served to widen the current political divides. Spicer addressed Bergeron's statement during an appearance on Fox News:
He’s entitled to his opinion. Tom’s been [host for] 28 seasons. I always thought he did a great job as host. And I share his sentiment. This should be two hours of politics-free. More than that, I hope what this show is at the end of the season is an example of people from a bunch of different backgrounds getting together, leaving politics aside and having a good time in a civil and respectful way. So my hope and goal is that at the end of the season, Tom looks back and says, ‘We need more of this, not less of it. We need more bringing people together from different backgrounds and saying come together and show how much you can enjoy each other’s company. Be together and dance around and enjoy each other.’ I think too much of what we have in this country right now, every conversation needs to turn to politics. And as much as I’ve enjoyed that most of my life, I think there’s times when we want to – as a family, as an organization, as friends – sit down and just have a politics-free conversation.
Sure, but Sean Spicer was only cast on Dancing With the Stars because he's a "star" through his very public role in politics. There's no way to have a politics-free conversation about that. Instead, everyone already seems to be entrenched on their side, lobbing ammunition at The Other Side.
Sean Spicer isn't the first political figure to be on Dancing With the Stars, and every previous time a political figure showed up it was also divisive -- and, perhaps more to the point, they were usually lousy dancers!
I remember when painfully stiff House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was on DWTS in Season 9, got injured, and withdrew after three weeks. If you're going to send us political figures as obvious controversy bait, at least let them be decent dancers. Fox News talk show host Tucker Carlson was cast in Season 3 and was the first contestant eliminated. Bristol Palin was also cast from a political slant, since she was only famous at the time through her mother, former governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Bristol was stiff on the floor too, but her supporters got her to the finals of Season 11 and she returned for All-Stars Season 15.
We'll have to wait and see how Sean Spicer does. Will he be the first celeb eliminated, or will his supporters vote for him to continue?
In case you missed it, here's the full cast for Dancing With the Stars Season 28:
Lauren Alaina – country music starChristie Brinkley – supermodelAlly Brooke – pop starHannah Brown – The BacheloretteKaramo Brown – TV hostKate Flannery – TV starRay Lewis – NFL Hall of FamerKel Mitchell – comedian/actorLamar Odom – two-time NBA championSean Spicer – former White House press secretaryJames Van Der Beek – TV iconMary Wilson – The Supremes
Each celeb's professional dance partner will be revealed on the premiere. But we do know the pros who will be dancing this season:
Brandon ArmstrongLindsay ArnoldAlan BerstenCheryl BurkeWitney CarsonVal ChmerkovskiySasha FarberJenna JohnsonDaniella KaragachKeo MotsepePeta MurgatroydPasha PashkovGleb SavchenkoEmma Slater
Dancing With the Stars Season 28 premieres Monday, September 16 at 8 p.m. on ABC, and we know to expect some format changes (but hopefully good ones). DWTS is one of the many fall 2019 shows to keep an eye on through our handy guide.
