DWTS host Tyra Banks claims she was unfairly BLAMED for live elimination blunder last year & ‘viewers don’t understand’
TYRA Banks hit out at the blame she got for her elimination blunder last year while hosting Dancing With The Stars.
The 47-year-old TV personality said the snafu ultimately wasn't her fault as she addressed the embarrassing incident this week.
During an episode from last season in October 2020, Tyra read off the wrong names while announcing who had been spared from elimination.
While appearing at the Television Critics Association press tour on Thursday, : "I was blamed for it, and it wasn’t me. And I think that’s very important to say."
She added that DWTS viewers "don’t understand that there [was] a whole thing going on" behind the scenes.
"I mean, people see my face. They don’t know there's things in my ears, and there's directors and things, people saying stuff to me," she explained. "And so … the world sees me."
'I TOOK DARTS FOR THE TEAM'
Tyra continued to say that she took the blame at the time and accepted she had to "take darts for the team."
"The world is angry at the talent. But there's a whole control room and things happening and craziness going on, and I'm fed certain things, say certain things that I’m told.
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"But it is what it is," she said. "We are a team. And sometimes you have to take darts for the team, and I took them. And will continue to take them."
During the infamous episode, Tyra told viewers that Anne Heche and her pro partner Keo Motsepe were up for elimination along with NFL star Vernon Davis and dancer Peta Murgatroyd.
After a moment, Tyra then revealed the bottom two were actually Anne along with Cheer star Monica Aldama and her pro partner, .
However, Monica and Val were already backstage as they had been told they were safe.
"Please come back. Please have Monica come back. There's been an error in our control room, but we're making it happen.
“This is live TV, right? This is the craziness of live TV,” the former America’s Next Top Model host continued.
'THIS IS LIVE TV'
She told Monica and Val as they walked back out: "I'm so sorry. This is live TV. I was reading my cards, but my cards were wrong.”
Monica was saved by judges Carrie Ann Inaba and Derek Hough - which meant Anne and Keo were eliminated.
Tyra returns to host season 30 of the dance competition on September 20.
She took over the gig from ousted Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews after season 28.
