Nev Schulman Defends Tyra Banks As ‘DWTS’ Host – Hollywood Life

Nev Schulman Defends ‘DWTS’ Host Tyra Banks After Fan Backlash: She Has ‘Great Energy’

'DWTS' contestant Nev Schulman is coming to the defense of new host Tyra Banks after fans criticized her. He talked to HL EXCLUSIVELY on our podcast!

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Nev Schulman is very clearly living his best life on Dancing With The Stars while he foxtrots and cha-chas his way around the ballroom with pro Jenna Johnson. While several adjustments were made to the fan-favorite show ahead of season 29, one of the most notable was swapping out longtime hosts Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews for Tyra Banks. The former supermodel was faced with backlash from fans after a few fumbles in the first two episodes, but Nev fiercely defended her while on the HollywoodLife Podcast! LISTEN TO THE FULL PODCAST EPISODE HERE!

“I think she’s doing great! Obviously, this is a very strange first season of the show to be hosting with everything that’s happening. It’s one thing if it was just the host that changed, but the entire process and format of the show with no audience and figuring out how to get all the dancers together, but actually not together, it’s just an awkward time to step into that role,” Nev explained. “I think she’s doing great, and she’s so friendly!”

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Nev Schulman with partner Jenna Johnson on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ (ABC)

The Catfish host revealed that Tyra even went so far as to call each contestant ahead of the show’s premiere. “I had a great conversation with her for half an hour, just kind of getting to know each other a little bit, which was really nice,” Nev continued. “She brings a different personality to the show. Just give her a chance, give her a break. Everyone was being really hard on her. I’m all for the bigger the better, let’s have fun. She brings a really great energy and also incredible work ethic to to what she does.”

Tyra addressed the criticism herself after last week’s second episode, when fans pointed out that she fumbled over a few words. “I hosted the second episode of Dancing with the Stars… and yeah, it wasn’t perfect,” she said in a TikTok video. “Yeah, I had a lot of fun but I messed up, I said the wrong words, but I kept, kept going.”

She compared her own flub to contestant’s Skai Jackson‘s misstep during the episode. “So the message is: I messed up this week, Skai messed up this week, but we’re gonna keep going and going. Forgive yourself when you mess up and keep going,” she told fans.

We can’t wait to see Nev Schulman and his partner Jenna Johnson crush it on Disney Night in the ballroom tonight, at 8 PM ET on ABC!