A Fed-Up Former 'DWTS' Winner Sends Back His Mirrorball Trophy

Even though we share a home state of Arkansas (he grew up about 30 miles from where I did), I had never heard of Bobby Bones until last week while researching Andy Richter’s improbable Dancing with the Stars run. Bobby Bones was the original Andy Richter — a guy having so much fun as a contestant on DWTS that he eventually won the season’s title, despite being one of the weaker dancers in the competition (he was second-to-last in the judges’ scoring in the finals but still won).

His win, in fact, prompted the show to change the voting formula so that judges’ scores carried more weight and “undeserving” dancers couldn’t win again. That may be why Andy Richter was finally eliminated despite the audience’s affection. I actually went back and watched several of Bobby Bones’ dances, and while he may not be a great dancer, he’s clearly a great performer. And infectious as hell, even when he went off script — in week two, he ended his Foxtrot by adlibbing the Floss.

It was the 27th season of the show, and I can understand why someone less conventionally good might win the competition — he was different, and the audience was probably craving different. But apparently, the win caused some backlash, and Bobby Bones hasn’t heard the end of it since.

To wit: This week, Tom Bergeron returned to Dancing with the Stars as a guest judge and, ahead of that, did a lot of press. In one interview, while discussing Richter’s run, Bergeron piled on, recalling one of the more shocking moments of Bones’ season. “Bobby Bones was the first time I kind of — it was like ouch,” Bergeron said of the win. (Julianne Hough apparently didn’t agree with Bones’ win, either.)

And that was finally enough for Bones, who said on TikTok that he’d sent his Mirrorball Trophy back to ABC. “I try not to get my feelings hurt, especially about stuff like this, but this was hurtful,” he said, adding that it wasn’t “because of what was said, but really who said it.”

Bones admits that the amount of hate he still gets is “crazy,” and it bothers him that people he respects — like Bergeron and Julianne Hough — continue to disparage him.

“Like what did I do?” Bones wondered. “I had a great attitude. I worked hard, and here we are, like six years later, I’m still catching strays out of nowhere. So I sent the trophy back. They don’t want me to be a part of the show, obviously. So I don’t wanna be somewhere that doesn’t want me to be there.”

He added that he’s no longer a fan of Bergeron or Hough, who “have taken all the joy away from my time on that show. Which is crazy because it was such a great, joyous time.”

And that is obvious from his performances.