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Key Points Dancing with the Stars celebrates its 20th anniversary with a special birthday episode. Iconic funniest moments include wardrobe malfunctions, live TV mishaps, and witty judge commentary. Former host Tom Bergeron returns as guest judge, honoring past stars and memorable show highlights. Dancing with the Stars is marking a huge milestone, celebrating 20 years of the show with its 20th birthday party episode this Tuesday, Nov. 11, on ABC. The reality show based on the British TV hit Strictly Come Dancing began as a modest summer program, premiering on June 1, 2005. But it soon became an American TV juggernaut and is now in its 34th season. 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade’s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 DWTS’ simple premise of celebrities teaming up with professional dance partners, learning how to dance, and competing against each other live for the mirror ball trophy continues to grab big ratings. Fans are looking forward to this week’s nostalgic episode with songs, dances, and special guests. There are seven couples left on DWTS’ season 34, following in the footsteps of about 400 of them in the series’ history. ABC has announced that 20th Birthday Party Night will welcome back former host Tom Bergeron, who’ll be a guest judge, alongside regular judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, and Bruno Tonioli. Bergeron hosted the show from its premiere in 2005 until 2019, when he was replaced by Tyra Banks. Season 19 celebrity winner Alfonso Ribeiro and season 4 and 5 pro winner Julianne Hough now host the show. The special episode will also honor stars who were on the show who passed away, which includes former head Judge Len Goodman, who died in 2023. But DWTS has featured more laughs through the years than sadness, and there will likely be plenty of humorous moments featured on the birthday episode. Read on for Parade’s guide to the funniest all-time moments on Dancing With the Stars! Related: Here’s How to Vote This Season on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Derek gets caught texting The premiere of the current Season 34 of Dancing with the Stars featured judge Hough texting on camera at the judges’ table. When co-host (and sister) Julianne asked what he was doing, Derek joked, “Oh, I was voting. I’m sorry.” Tyra Banks goes through a wardrobe malfunction In October 2020, then-host Tyra Banks suffered a wardrobe malfunction where her dress wasn’t zipped up. The beauty had to hold her gown closed while introducing the next act. Related: ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Week 9 Spoilers: Every Song and Dance from the 20th Birthday Party Night Dance speak goes wrong Pro dancer Chelsie Hightower had a hilarious dumb blonde moment on the all-stars 2012 season when she didn’t realize that her race car driver partner, Helio Castroneves, who is from Brazil, spoke Portuguese rather than Spanish. When Castroneves tried to explain it to her in a rehearsal segment, confused Chelsie gasped, “South America speaks Spanish?” Jeff Ross roasts the cast Edgy comedian Jeff Ross competed on DWTS season 7, then returned to roast the cast during the season 8 finale in 2009. He joked about the obscurity of finalists Shawn Johnson, Gilles Marini, and Melissa Rycroft, and made fun of Steve Wozniak’s weight. While some fans loved it, others thought it was more uncomfortable than funny. Lindsay Arnold farts in David Ross’s face In one of the funniest moments ever on DWTS, former Chicago Cubs player David Ross‘ partner, Lindsay Arnold, farted in his face in 2017! The dance pro accidentally let one rip in rehearsal as she did a cartwheel into his arms with her legs splayed wide open. Practice footage showed the baseball star and Arnold dissolving in laughter. Related: The Real Reason Why Elaine Hendrix Missed ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Last Night Cloris Leachman’s DWTS run The Mary Tyler Moore Show star Cloris Leachman, who died in 2021, was one of the funniest contestants to ever appear on DWTS. When she competed at age 82 on season 7 in 2008, she put her leg up on judge Tonioli’s desk and sat on Inaba’s lap. Beloved late judge Goodman also exclaimed to Leachman about her senior citizen sexy act, “Mind your cleavage! It’s putting me off.” Carrie Ann is floored In October 2019, while evaluating Kate Flannery’s “Mary Poppins” style dance, Inaba fell out of her judge’s seat after Bergeron distracted her with a prop on the ballroom floor. She got up to see what it was, but her chair rolled away and her rear end hit the ground. Good sport Inaba, who also fell out of her chair on an episode in 2012, laughed it off. Tom Bergeron’s off-the-cuff-jokes Quick-witted original host Bergeron was the master of live TV, as when he asked Derek Hough and his celeb partner to proceed to the balcony: “Why don’t you go up there where it’s safer and everyone’s on their meds?” After female pro dancers delivered an especially sexy opening routine, a deadpan Bergeron noted, “These are my co-workers,” to audience laughter. Chyna Phillips forgets her routine In season 13, singer Chynna Phillips couldn’t remember her dance, and viewers cracked up over her awkward performance. She was soon eliminated! Related: Who Will Win ‘Dancing with the Stars’ 2025? After Watching Every Episode, Here Are Our Predictions Bachelor in Paradise stars get misidentified Viral hilarity ensued when ABC wrecked an audience guest moment on DWTS season 28. When Hannah Brown, famed for The Bachelorette, danced, a camera put up a caption of supposed Bachelor in Paradise cast members cheering her on. But the people shown were random audience members, not BIP stars! Anna Delvey’s iconic exit There have been many unintentionally hilarious moments on the show. One occurred during season 33 when controversial con artist contestant Anna Delvey, when asked by Julianne what she would take away from her DWTS experience, laughed, “Nothing.” Erin Andrews messes up a proposal? The former co-host went viral when soldier Noah Galloway proposed to his girlfriend Jamie Boyd backstage on the show. When he got down on one knee, the camera caught Andrews rolling her eyes and throwing her head back like the moment was hokey. But Andrews later claimed she acted weird to keep from crying with joy for the couple. Noah backed up Andrews’ explanation. Whatever the case, it was flat-out funny to watch! Skai Jackson pulls Alan’s hair Fans laughed when season 29 star Skai Jackson accidentally pulled her pro partner Alan Bersten’s hair during a live show after she slipped on the dance floor. Jackson said she didn’t realize it happened at the time. She and Bersten wound up finding humor in the mishap. Joey Fatone splits his pants DWTS guys can have wardrobe malfunctions, too! Former NSYNC star Joey Fatone split his pants during an aerial move in an opening dance medley in November 2019. It tore his trousers from front to back, and Fatone sat in the judges’ chair and joked, “Oh well, you didn’t notice it.” Michael Bolton lets the dog out! While there have been many funny DWTS routines, terrible dancer Michael Bolton made viewers howl with laughter with his infamous Season 11 performance. His jive with partner Hightower featured the singer crawling on his knees out of a prop dog house. Kirstie Alley loses her shoe Kirstie Alley’s shoe fell off during a 2011 waltz performance with her professional partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy. Alley had to sit on the floor to adjust it. The former Cheers comedienne joked that fellow contestant Petra Nemcova was to blame, saying, “I think that the other girls came into my dressing room and tampered with my shoe.” Alfonso’s Carlton dance inspires giggles Alfonso Ribeiro’s funniest DWTS moment was his performance of the Carlton dance, a tribute to his Fresh Prince of Bel-Air character, Carlton Banks. Witney doesn’t know her partner Often, the youth of the pro dancers compared to their celebrity partners causes an amusing culture clash. In season 24, former Saturday Night Live comedian Chris Kattan tried to explain who he was to his dance partner Witney Carson. Incredibly, Witney had never seen SNL! When he described his famous sketches, like the “Night at the Roxbury,” Carson was clueless. Tyra Banks reads the wrong names Host Banks announced the wrong couples in the bottom two because of a control room error in season 29 October 2020, making viewers confused — and then amused. She soon corrected the error and sighed, “This is the craziness of live TV.” Bruno calls out Billy Ray Cyrus
