DWTS Winner Bobby Bones Addresses 'Minor Meltdown' After Tom Bergeron Comments, Returning Trophy

Talking on his Bobbycast podcast on Saturday, he explained that even though his initial reaction had come in response to comments from original DWTS host Tom Bergeron, he still loves him.

"I was surprised by his reaction to the question who’s one of the most surprising eliminations," Bones explained on the episode with guest and fellow Mirrorball champion Kaitlyn Bristowe, per Entertainment Weekly. "They didn’t even ask him about me."

He elaborated, "Now had they said the question of, 'Who won that is surprising?' I'm all here. I'm the most surprising ever. I know that. I have sort of a cool title," Bones added. "I have total awareness of my entire situation. But it wasn't."

Bergeron's response, as Bones went over in his initial reaction, was to say that Bones' win was the biggest surprise for him. He said that because Bergeron "was so helpful to me during the show ‘cause he knew I was struggling," the comment felt particularly hurtful.

He went on to talk about how Bergeron's comment hit him, explaining, "I was made to feel I was really bad at dancing, which I was, then I got to be okay." He also shared that the network reached out and said if he wants the trophy back, it's up to him.

"I have a job where I give opinions all the time. Whenever I create controversy, which I do at times ... I’m good because I signed up for this," he explained of his work on the radio. "This is the only thing where I was the underdog who won, and then that’s held against me. That association kind of soared it a bit."

He went on to explain that it was the whole experience. "I look at that and that’s the only thing I’ver ever done where I purposefully just tried hard, worked hard, tried to make people better around me," he explained. "I would help other contestants [during] their camera time. … I did everything I could to help, and then for people to go, ‘We think you’re less than,’ that was my association with the trophy."

Six years after winning Dancing with the Stars, radio personality Bobby Bones revealed that he has returned the Mirrorball Trophy after a comment former host Tom Bergeron made ahead of this week's 20th anniversary celebration.

Bergeron was back to rejoin the show as a guest judge this time. He was also the host of the show when Bones won Season 27 in what would turn out to be such a controversial win that the show would immediately (and temporarily) change the rules the very next season.

Bones would be the first to tell you that he wasn't the best dancer that season, but he and Sharna Burgess won the fans over during their run and he ultimately beat runner-up Milo Manheim and third place finisher Evanna Lynch in the finale.

In Season 28, DWTS implemented the Judges' Save, which would have the panel make the final decision after the bottom two couples were revealed. That change was eliminated in 2024, paving the way for the same kind of backlash Bones dealt with for contestants who win over the audience, despite subpar skills, like this season's Andy Richter.

In a TikTok posted on Wednesday, Bones admitted that he's usually got a pretty thick skin about the criticism he's had to deal with since his win, but Bergeron's recent response to Parade got under his skin.

"I got my little feelings hurt. Rare but it happens," Bones captioned his TikTok, where he showed Bergeron commenting to a question that wasn't even about him. The former host was asked about celebrity eliminations, but Bergeron "flipped it," as Bones described it, and said, "The thing that shocked me most was a win."

He went on to explain, "Bobby Bones was when I first kind of-- It was like ouch."

Bones then responded, "Like, what was I supposed to do on that show?" He explained that he was working on a different show for ABC and was asked to participate on DWTS. "Am I supposed to not show up and work hard?" he asked. "Am I supposed to not freaking give it everything that I have? Am I supposed to throw it and not win?"

He went on to add that "it's crazy the amount of hate I get, even from people that I respect like Tom Bergeron there and Julianne Hough. I don't know her, but I feel like a sixth grader and all the ninth grade dancing kids are shoving me in lockers."

In August 2024, Hough spoke out about his win during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live when a viewer asked about a DWTS winner she "strongly disagreed" with.

It was fellow guest Mickey Guyton who answered "Bobby Bones," with Hough chiming in, "I actually agree with you and I think it's because of the fan base. It's all about fan base on that show. He was not the best dancer."

Bones also responded to that statement in an Instagram video at the time where he praised Hough for being "diplomatic" in her response, and called out Guyton.

"Here we are, six years later, I'm still catching strays out of nowhere," he lamented in his new TikTok. "So, I sent the trophy back. They don't want me to be a part of the show, obviously, so I don't want to be somewhere that doesn't want me to be there."

He concluded his message by emphasizing, "I loved my time there, but I would say things like this, Tom or Julianne or -- there are even people that I work closely with taking random shots at me this week -- that have just taken all the joy away from my time on that show, which is crazy because it was such a great, joyous time."

"Go where you're celebrated not tolerated," he advised his fans.

On Wednesday, after he got wind of Bones' reaction, Bergeron shared a message he'd sent to the Season 27 winner personally. Taking to his Instagram Stories, Bergeron captioned the message he'd written, "I was doing so many interviews leading up to the 20th I was bound to say something inelegantly," adding a hand-on-forehead emoji.

To Bones directly, he'd written, "Bobby, it wasn't my intention to hurt your feelings. My 'ouch' was based on my honest feeling that your win spoke to a need to address the balance between judge and viewer voting. I always felt bad that you & Sharna had to deal with the aftermath of that win & I certainly regret pouring salt into that old wound."

As mentioned above, Bobby Bones has certainly not been the only controversial contestant that had fans in an uproar by making it much further than anyone expected on the back of viewer support. He's just the only one to date to have win that way.

Just last season, Ilona Maher came in second place, with fans furious that she and Alan Bersten beat out Chandler Kinney and Brandon Armstrong, who had to settle for third (Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson won).

Conversely, when celebrities come in with a lot of dance talent, like Season 32 winner Charli D'Amelio, fans cry out that this is unfair, with some angry that she beat both runner-up Gabby Windey and third place finisher Wayne Brady. This is just to say that DWTS fans are notoriously unhappy about something, even as the show's ratings continue to climb.

Meanwhile, Season 34 of Dancing with the Stars continues with sex couples remaining. Already, there has been outrage over Richter surviving as long as he did -- with some expressing fears he might repeat Bones' feat -- and there's sure to be more controversial results to come in the final two weeks.

Dancing with the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+.