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"My Dad Loved This Show"Tom Bergeron Dedicates ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Episode to His Late Father
Thinking of you, Tom Bergeron.
During last night's new episode of Dancing with the Stars, the show's 60-year-old co-host revealed his father, Raymond Bergeron, had sadly passed away earlier that day from an undisclosed illness.
"I want to take a moment to say that my dad loved this show," Tom said while holding back tears during the program's closing credits. "Never missed an episode. And I'd like to think somewhere that he didn't miss this one."
The TV personality was noticeably absent from last week's DWTS episode — Season 19 champion Alfonso Ribeiro filled in as a guest co-host during Tom's absence — to instead spend time with his ailing dad.
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"I'll miss 2morrow's #dwts to be at my Dad's bedside. He's given me a lifetime of support. Time to return the favor," Tom captioned a throwback photo of himself and his father on Twitter on Oct. 4.
Following the news of Raymond's death, DWTS competitor Bindi Irwin — who lost her father, Steve Irwin, in 2006 — expressed her condolences to Tom in an interview with People.
"I was hugging him in dress rehearsal. It is a really, really tough club to be in, and my heart and soul and energy go out to him," she said.
