Tom Bergeron on 'Dancing With Sharks' dangers, sad trophies and 'DWTS' return
While critics have groaned that 37th Shark Week has jumped the shark with the campy competition, the Emmy-winning Bergeron, 70, immediately took the bait.
"Yeah, it was a surprise. Needless to say, no one had ever come up with this topic before," Bergeron tells USA TODAY. "But it tickled me. And it also incorporates something we should've tried in my 15 years hosting 'Dancing With the Stars'; Bringing in another species."
Even Bergeron didn't know how the apex predator prancing would work before the shoot on the shark-filled Bahamian island of Bimini. Here's what happens in Discovery Channel's "Dancing With Sharks," which kicks off Shark Week July 20 (8 ET/PT).
More: Summer of 'Jaws': Shark Week 2025 stocked with drama, dread ... and dancing
Real sharks dance with shark handlers, with legitimate danger
The loose competition features five contestants, all professional shark wranglers, grooving to tunes underwater with whichever swimming predator wants to tango. A choreographer specializing in underwater dance trains each contestant for the routines, which include one head spin on the ocean floor, as well as props such as a boom box and an electric guitar. "I'm just glad they weren't plugged in," says Bergeron. "That would have led to easy eliminations."
The real risks of shark bites are often played up. For example, Bergeron's over-the-top voiceover warns early on that contestants could end up as "lunch." The routines are critiqued by a panel of three judges, including adventure correspondent Kinga Philipps, dancer/choreographer Allison Holker and the bemused comedian Pete Holmes (who flat-out calls the competition with sharks "a bad idea").
Spoiler alert: Each human contestant's limbs and digits were "all accounted for" at the end of filming, Bergeron says, with no injuries.
"I told two of the eliminated dancers, 'You're leaving with a very special parting gift – your limbs,'" he says, pointing out that he saw "people faint, pop their ACLs, all kinds of crap" during his lengthy "DWTS" career.
"Once you get out of bed, there's danger," he adds.
Does 'Dancing With Sharks' promote or fight shark fear?
Even with the shark jokes, Bergeon bites back at any criticism that "Dancing With Sharks" promotes or capitalizes on shark fear. The show is "a variation of what these professionals do in their careers every day with tour groups and scientific research," he says. "And the key point made to me from the onset was that fear of sharks, instilled in us from the movie 'Jaws' 50 years ago, is completely overblown."
Bergeron said he learned about the misunderstood apex predators during the shoot and had his own distortions dispelled.
"When I'm dieting and working out, I might have a cheat day. So I asked, 'Are human beings a cheat day for sharks?'" says Bergeron. "And they told me, 'No, it's not even that bad.'"
No shark cages or spray tans, one diving-suit tuxedo
There are no spray tans on this dancing show. Bergeron never went for the "DWTS" fake tan, anyway: "I decided to be the pasty white guy," he says.
Longtime Shark Week correspondent and marine biologist Luke Tipple interviews the "Dancing" contestants on a boat while wearing a spiffy, specially designed James Bond-style tuxedo diving suit. Tipple also offers commentary while underwater, which is no easy feat.
Shark cages are not permitted for swimmers in the open water. Bergeron never ventured off land, not even in a protective cage. "I had a coward clause in my contract," he says.
The puns are lethal, and the trophy is 'sad' (but so was the 'DWTS' Mirrorball trophy)
The Dad-joke-loving Bergeron insists he came up with his own shark puns. "Anytime you're talking about 'one of my chums' or you tell a wise-ass, 'Is that shark-asm?' It's all kind of natural," he says. "Have puns, will travel."
The finale ends with the presentation of the "Dancing With Sharks" trophy, which Bergeron laughingly describes as "sad."
"When they gave the trophy, I was like, 'Really?" But that's the same reaction I had with the 'Dancing With the Stars' trophy for years," he says of the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, now named after the famed judge who died in 2023. "They've given that more of a caché by naming it the Len Goodman Trophy now. But the trophy wasn't the point of the competition, really."
Bergeron talks return to 'DWTS': 'The mirrorball is back in their court now'
Bergeron was the host of "DWTS" when it premiered in 2005 but was fired, along with co-host Erin Andrews, in 2020 during a show overhaul. He promised to "never" return. But time heals all wounds, and Bergeron is pleased that his "good buddy," original executive producer Conrad Green, has returned to "DWTS."
"He's been largely responsible for getting the show back on track," says Bergeron, who nonetheless declined Green's invitation to attend 2024's 500th episode episode celebration. "I said that I'd get too fidgety sitting in the audience."
However, he and Green discussed a return in Season 34, due this fall. "We did have lunch, and we did talk, and I offered a scenario where I might come back for a night in a certain capacity," says Bergeron.
"The mirrorball is back in their court now."
How to watch 'Dancing With Sharks' and Shark Week
Shark Week begins July 20 on the Discovery Channel with "Dancing With Sharks" (8 ET/PT) and runs through July 26. All Shark Week shows stream on Discovery+ and Max.
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