Bruno Tonioli

Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing with the Stars

In 2004, Tonioli was selected to be a judge on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, along with Craig Revel Horwood, Arlene Phillips, and head judge Len Goodman. In 2005, he was then chosen to be a judge on Dancing with the Stars, along with Goodman and Carrie Ann Inaba, where he, along with Inaba, has remained since.^[10][11] For one week during both series 16 and series 17 of Strictly Come Dancing, he was replaced by guest judge Alfonso Ribeiro, due to a broadcasting conflict between the two shows.^[12][13] In addition, Tonioli was also involved in the ABC talent competition Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann.^[10][14]

Tonioli quickly became known for his commentary style, often getting out of his chair and physically describing a performance, using colourful descriptives. As examples, during his time with the U.S. Dancing With the Stars, Tonioli called Cheetah Girl Sabrina Bryan "a little lynx on the prowl"^[15] and labelled singer and actor Billy Ray Cyrus "a crazy bear lost in a swamp".^[16]

The lowest score Tonioli has ever given a contestant was a '2', awarded only once on Dancing with the Stars, to Master P and his partner Ashly DelGrosso for their Paso Doble. This was due to Master P's lack of showmanship and unwillingness to train and participate in the show.^[17] On Strictly Come Dancing, Tonioli has never awarded a '9' when every other judge has awarded a '10', although this has happened on multiple occasions on Dancing With the Stars.^[18]

A minor controversy arose following Tonioli's remarks to Dancing with the Stars contestant Michael Bolton and dance partner Chelsie Hightower during the 27 September 2010 show, when he called Bolton's jive dance the worst he had seen in all 11 seasons, later awarding him a score of '3'. Bolton expressed his dissatisfaction prominently in the media afterward, stating:

"To me, [Bruno] let everybody down. My mom was there, she flew in. She's 90 and I thought she was going to really enjoy it, and I just didn't expect that level of disrespect from him."^[19]

This prompted ABC to release a statement firmly defending Tonioli:^[20]

"Bruno's role as a judge is to give his honest opinions on the quality of the dances he's judging, which is what he did in this case. While we respect the feelings of our celebrities and dancers, we don't feel Bruno should be expected to apologize for doing his job."

In 2020, due to flight restrictions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Tonioli was stuck in the U.S. and therefore did not appear on the Strictly judging panel at all during the series, instead appearing each week via video during Sunday night's results shows.^[21]

On 24 June 2021, it was announced that Anton Du Beke, the longest-running Strictly professional, would replace Tonioli as a permanent judge on Strictly Come Dancing for series 19.^[22] It was then announced on 19 May 2022 that Tonioli would not be returning to Strictly, and that Du Beke would take over permanently.^[23] Tonioli remarked on the matter:

"Well I always will miss it, it's my family, I mean we'll always be friends and you never know what's going to happen. At the moment, you know it's just as impossible, you know the situation is too complicated but they're all my brothers and sisters. We're all loving each other, you know, no hard feelings, they're great, they do a great job."^{[citation needed]}

In 2016, a surprise challenge on season 22 of Dancing with the Stars saw Tonioli work with Jodie Sweetin and the season's eventual-winner Nyle DiMarco and their professional partners. During the sequence, the two celebrities swapped partners, seeing DiMarco and Keo Motsepe dance the tango in ballroom hold, with both men shirtless, and Mostsepe lift and twirl DiMarco. This was the first time a same-sex pairing danced in a scored dance in any franchise of the show.^[24]

On Christmas Day 2022, in the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special, Tonioli surprised viewers by making a guest appearance and singing "Don't Leave Me This Way" by the Communards.^[25] Reactions to the performance were mixed.^[26][27][28]

Television

Film