Former Spice Girl Mel B will be taking over hosting duties for the show Dance Your Ass Off. Mel B will be replacing former host Marissa Jaret Winokur, and Winokour’s rep told PEOPLE the decision was mutual between his clients and the program. Her rep says, “Marissa’s reasons for not returning to season 2 are the following: the format of the program did not allow her to interact with the contestants and offer them encouragement and support, and criticism she received from producers regarding her appearance.”
Executive producer Dan Cutforth has a different take on the situation. His statement reads, “There was a portion of the audience that absolutely loved [Winokur] and a portion that didn’t connect so much with her. We wanted to find a host that really, really connected with our core audience. The core Oxygen audience grew up Spice Girl fans!”
Mel B, who is a singer, dancer, mother of 2, and has appeared on Dancing With the Stars couldn’t be more thrilled with her new job. She says, “Dancing has been a big part of my life. I kind of fell into it. I didn’t go, ‘I’m going to dance and lose weight.’ I did it and it just ended up happening, which is brilliant! I’m so excited about doing this show because you get to know [the contestants] and follow them along on their story and their journey.”
Photo Credit: Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic; Scott Kirkland/INF
