Dancing with the Stars has unveiled the guest judge who will be sitting next to Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli for the ABC series' special 20th anniversary episode next week.

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Dancing with the Stars will be celebrating its 20th year on the air on Tuesday, November 11 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC, and co-hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough kept teasing the participation of a mystery guest judge during the show's November 4 "Rock and Roll" broadcast.

RELATED LINK: 'DANCING WITH THE STARS' PROS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS: WHO'S DATING OR MARRIED TO WHOM!? (PHOTOS)

Good Morning America officially announced the identity of the upcoming guest judge on Wednesday, November 5.

"Next week, the show is gearing up for a very special 20th anniversary episode," Lara Spencer said on GMA.

"Right now, we will exclusively reveal the guest judge coming to join the panel. Making his return to the ballroom, it is the one and only Tom Bergeron!"

When asked how it feels to be returning to the ballroom, Tom replied, "It feels really good. I'm really looking forward to it."

Tom, 70, hosted Dancing with the Stars beginning with its 2005 premiere on ABC through late 2019 -- a span that covered 28 seasons and over 400 episodes.

When Tom was not asked back for Dancing with the Stars' Fall 2020 season, his then co-host, Erin Andrews -- who had joined Dancing with the Stars in March 2014 and hosted for six seasons -- was also let go.

ABC said in a Fall 2021 statement -- following a year-long hiatus -- that Dancing with the Stars was heading in a "new creative direction" for Season 29, and the network promptly replaced Tom and Erin with a new host, former America's Next Top Model and America's Got Talent host Tyra Banks, who would also serve as an executive producer.

Tom -- who also hosted America's Funniest Home Videos from 2001 to 2015, before he was replaced by Alfonso -- gave his original Dancing with the Stars showrunner from 2005, Conrad Green, credit for his comeback to the reality dancing competition.

"[Conrad] kind of really extended the olive branch and got me reminiscing about all the fun memories. And so, yeah, I'm looking forward to getting back," Tom shared on GMA.

When asked what makes Dancing with the Stars so special after all these years, Tom replied, "Well, look, I think 20 years of any primetime show is amazing."

"For a show 20 years old to also be having a ratings resurgence, as they are, you're more likely to see a zebra playing the piano than to have that happen," he quipped.

"And I really think it's a credit to my buddy and the team kind of getting it back to its essence."

While Tom wouldn't reveal his celebrity favorites on Dancing with the Stars' currently-airing 34th season, he acknowledged "there are definitely a couple of frontrunners."

"I think when you look at [Alix Earle] and [Robert Irwin], you have to [note their success]. But when you look at the heart of the show, you look at [Andy Richter]," Tom said.

"I mean, I was watching last night, and I thought, 'I get to judge Andy next week!' I wouldn't expect it. But he epitomizes what I always thought the show was at its best."

Tom noted how ballroom-dance technique alone can be "robotic," adding, "but when you bring passion to it and enthusiasm and just a charming personality, that can make up for a lot."

During a Fall 2021 appearance on the former "Bob Saget's Here for You" podcast, Tom revealed why he thought he got fired from Dancing with the Stars and how he saw it coming.

"In all candor, the show that I left was not the show that I loved," Tom admitted at the time.

"The end of the season that turned out to be my last season [in 2019], I kind of knew. So I took everything out of my dressing room that I really wanted... It was kind of obvious that we were butting heads."

Tom "butting heads" with producers was evident when he publicly expressed disapproval over Dancing with the Stars casting former White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Season 28.

Amid backlash and criticism over Sean's casting from viewers, Tom took to Twitter and wrote how he hoped Dancing with the Stars would be "a joyful respite from" the country's "exhausting political climate."

Tom wanted to see a show "free of inevitably divisive bookings from ANY party affiliations."

Tom claimed that producers were in agreement with him but then a decision was made to "go in a different direction."

Tom explained, "It is the prerogative of the producers, in partnership with the network, to make whatever decisions they feel are in the best long term interests of the franchise."

"We can agree to disagree, as we do now," he confirmed, "but ultimately it's their call. I'll let it to them to answer any further questions about those decisions."

Tom pointed out how the show had "changed a lot" for him starting in early [2018].

"We had very clear, sometimes public, differences of opinion about the new showrunner and some of the execs and happily, I was at a point in my life and career where I didn't have to just shut up and take it," Tom revealed.

Tom said that he thought going public with his concerns "set the stage for" his firing.

Tom noted that he "wasn't surprised" by his firing and actually "kind of saw it coming," and he joked, "I think Erin and I had more fun getting fired than anyone."

Producers reportedly wanted to evolve Dancing with the Stars in 2020 and make the show feel fresh while reaching out to a new audience.

But ABC publicly thanked Tom for his "trademark wit and charm that helped make this show a success" after letting him go, and Tom handled his Dancing with the Stars departure graciously and gracefully.

"Just informed @DancingABC will be continuing without me," Tom tweeted in July 2020.

"It's been an incredible 15 year run and the most unexpected gift of my career. I'm grateful for that and for the lifelong friendships made. That said, now what am I supposed to do with all of these glitter masks?"

As for why Tom refrained from speaking out about his behind-the-scenes tension with Dancing with the Stars producers, he shared, "You know what nobody needs to hear? A whiny millionaire."

RELATED LINK: 'DANCING WITH THE STARS' PROS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS: WHO'S DATING OR MARRIED TO WHOM!? (PHOTOS)

"It's so self-absorbed. I mean, look. I had great fortune," Tom elaborated. "I mean, I had two network shows running simultaneously for the better part of a decade and a half."

Tom shared at the time he had already moved on to other projects and so Dancing with the Stars drama was "pretty far in the rearview mirror" for him.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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