Tavis Smiley Blames Lack of Rehearsal for DWTS Elimination
Seriously, you guys need to read this. Not only does Tavis insist on talking in 3rd person, but he’s actually blaming DWTS for taking him on knowing he had a book tour. Um, dude? You’re in charge of your life, you signed on. Can you believe this guy? Be sure to read the whole article from People. Discuss.
Tavis Smiley has a bone to pick with the producers of Dancing with the Stars.
The talk-show host, who on Tuesday became the second celebrity to get booted from the competition, said there was no way he could fit in rehearsal time with his latest book tour. And the producers knew it, he insisted.
“Producers shouldn’t sign up people who can’t commit the time when they are told up front that the person is going to be on a book tour,” Smiley told PEOPLE immediately after the show. “We gave them the entire book-tour schedule in advance! This is not about sour grapes. It’s about saying I think the fans deserve to have stars on this show who have the time to commit to learning the dances so [partner Sharna Burgess] and other professionals don’t waste their time trying to do something that’s just humanly impossible.”
Oh please. DWTS did not put a gun to his head. All he had to say was no.
Wait, so let me get this straight: lack of rehearsal time = bad dancing = elimination from DWTS? What a revelation…in other news, water is wet & fire is hot.
And the fact that he’s blaming DWTS? Dude, you’re a fuggin’ adult – nobody forced you to sign on to do the show. You knew your own schedule; you could have easily said “Y’know what? I’m too busy with this book tour right now…maybe in a few seasons when I’m less busy, DWTS.” It’s not their job to make that call for you. And trust me, it’s not like a large chunk of the viewers would have been totally upset if you weren’t on this season – all the buildup of Sharna getting signed on at the last minute only to have a minimally-popular tv host as her partner. Biiiiiig letdown.
So, so, SO glad he went home last night.
Meryl and Charlie did Stars on Ice and DWTS last season, and didn’t complain at all. Sharna’s the best, she deserves better.
People have done concerts (Kelly, Gavin,etc) and road tours (Bill,Sabrina,etc)…me thinks someone thought he was big enough of a personality to have his fans carry him thru until after book tour. Problem—if you don’t educate your fans on how to vote using the various methods or if your audience wouldn’t care either way if you stay on the show, then you don’t get the votes. Other problem was when he was leaked as Sharna’s celeb, most viewers had no clue who he was and he didn’t do enough in 1-2 weeks to grab attention.
Yet there are people who turned in worse dances than you that are still remaining in the competition. Why might that be, Mr. Smiley?
His whole statement can be summed up in one sentence: “I didnt have enough time blah blah blah blah blah but this is just an excuse because of my poor time management”. Many celebs have balanced other stuff with the show (Meryl Charlie Susan lucci etc) and did well.
TWO signatures on a contract dude. “Producers shouldn’t sign up people who can’t commit the time” Yeah, well, people without the time shouldn’t commit to the producers…
Let’s not forget about Amber Riley, who was filming Glee, recording an album, and dealing with a serious injury during season 17. Tavis has no one to blame but himself for make a bad decision and then refusing to take the blame. It’s a shame, because I really enjoyed him in week 1 and then he just killed it with his attitude in week 2.
My dad use to watch Tavis Smiley’s program and Tavis can be a very intense guy and that is why I was so surprised that he even signed on to do DWTS. He can be quite argumentative toward those who do not share his views. Tavis may have signed on to do the program for the extra publicity and of course the financial benefits, however if he was not willing to take the time to commit to learning the dances, he never should have signed on.
It’s such a shame, because I think he was probably more outside his comfort zone than anyone else on the show, and as such had more to discover about himself. Just to double think it a second, maybe he purposely signed on this time because if he did it some other time he might actually have time to continue outside the zone, and there is for sure a part of him that wants to leave all of that just the way it is: unexplored. So he may have ingeniously sabotaged himself. I’m sure that underneath his pretense of anger, he’s incredibly relieved.
Something that separates Tavis from the others mentioned who have done DWTS and other things is that all the others came to DWTS as “performers,” even tho it might not have been dance. In the end, of his own telling, he knew from the start that this was not a good idea. He needs to figure out how he wound up doing something that he knew wouldn’t work.
Ummm, does Tavis realize how ridiculous this makes him sound?? He could have said no….
I’ve never been on a book tour – how time consuming is it, I have to wonder nonetheless. He’s not the first celeb to have had other work on their schedule while training for DWTS.
I think kharma came around to bite him in the a$$. I thought it was very tacky to name names when he revealed he had his assistant make him a “worst of” tape. And what do you know … Master P lasted longer than he did (and didn’t blame DWTS for not making him wear proper dancing shoes). I think he also mentioned Steve Wazniak, who also lasted longer (and while he did cry “vote counting malfunction” he did have to retract very quickly after evidence to the contrary).
Too bad, really. I thought he really showed personality in his week 1 dance and was looking forward to seeing him get his groove on. But alas, like Lolo, he just couldn’t stop talking…should’ve just left it at “it was a wonderful experience, I’ve made a beautiful new friend, and life goes on”
When he said that this was one of “foolish” things he wanted to do before he turned 50, I knew it was a bad sign. It sounded a little arrogant to me before the show even started.
This was a total LOL for me this morning! 🙂
Did Tavis and Sharna not show up on GMA or did I miss it?