Keo Motsepe Wants ‘DWTS’ Fans To Be More Open To Change

Keo Motsepe from Instagram

Tyra Banks took over hosting duties at Dancing With The Stars last year. Although ratings remained high, fan chatter online stayed pretty negative all season long. Many DWTS fans seemed pretty unwilling to give Tyra a chance — and that’s not sitting well with everyone. Pro dancer Keo Motsepe recently shared his thoughts with Us Weekly.

“I love Tyra,” Keo told the publication this week. “I feel like, you know, when you’re used to something all the time — [when] you’re used to the same people, the same energy … it’s a shock to everyone.”

Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews hosted the show for years. It was pretty shocking when ABC announced they decided to replace the two with Tyra Banks. However, Keo doesn’t think that’s a good reason for fans to slam Tyra as often as they do.

Keo Motsepe defends Tyra Banks after the elimination mix-up that sent him home

During the season’s third episode, Tyra Banks accidentally called the wrong name during elimination. She announced Val Chmerkovskiy and Monica Aldama were safe when they were really in the bottom two alongside Keo and Anne Heche. It was pretty embarrassing, but the network admitted they made a mistake. Tyra did the best with what she had and kept the show running anyway, which is expected of any good host.

“You have to give that person the same energy that you gave the last person,” the 31-year-old dancer continued. “Dancing With the Stars is not — I always say this — it’s not about one person. It’s a production. There’s so many people that are behind-the-scenes that people don’t know about. … We all come together and that’s what people get to see every night.”

If anyone deserved to be upset about the elimination mistake, it was Keo and his partner Anne Heche. The mix-up ultimately ended in the judges choosing to save Val Chmerkovskiy and Monica Aldama. If Keo can forgive the incident, certainly fans can too.

Dancing With The Stars/Instagram

“I think Tyra dealt with it amazingly,” DWTS executive producer Andrew Llinares told ET at the time. “I just want to be really clear, this was not Tyra’s fault. It was a behind-the-scenes issue.”

DWTS judge Bruno Tonioli also came to Tyra’s defense at the time and shut down her haters.

“It’s live television, things like this happen, especially with information coming in from all over the country, voting and calculating in such a small amount of time,” Tonioli said after the incident last season. “Tyra was brilliant … she was really good because she took control of the situation.”

Is it time that fans let go of their anger and just gave Tyra Banks a fair chance?

Keo Motsepe thinks that fans just need to give the new hostess a little more grace in general.

“[It was] her first season. She did a good job, you know, and I think people at home have to allow the change,” Keo went on to tell Us Weekly. “[Fans] should be open to a different judge, a different host, a different dance. … It’s hard sometimes when there’s a change because you’re used to one thing, but I think change is always good.”

ABC recently confirmed Dancing With The Stars will return for Season 30 this fall. Tyra Banks also returns as host. Regardless of how you feel, she will be back for another year. Will you be watching? Let us know in the comments.

Nikole Behrens
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