Bruno Tonioli

Tonioli at the Strictly Come Dancing Tour in 2022

In 2004, Tonioli was elected to be a Judge on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, along with Craig Revel Horwood, Arlene Phillips & Len Goodman. In 2005, he was then chosen to be a judge on Dancing with the Stars, where he has remained until present. As he was a judge on both Strictly Come Dancing and its American counterpart, Dancing with the Stars, for one week each during Series 16 and 17, he was replaced by guest judge Alfonso Ribeiro, due to a broadcasting conflict between the two shows.

Tonioli quickly became known for his commentary style, often getting out of his chair and physically describing a performance, whilst at the same time including 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" and labelled singer and actor Billy Ray Cyrus "a crazy bear lost in a swamp".[9]

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.[10] On Strictly Come Dancing, Tonioli has never awarded a '9' when every other Judge has awarded a '10', however on Dancing With the Stars this has happened on multiple occasions.[11]

In 2020, due to COVID restrictions, Tonioli was stuck in the US and therefore did not appear on the judging panel at all during the series, but instead featured each week during the Judges' chat with Claudia via video call during the results show.

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.[12] It was then announced on 19 May 2022 that Tonioli would not be returning to Strictly, and that Du Beke would take over permanently.[13] 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.”[14]

In 2016, a surprise challenge saw Tonioli work with Jodie Sweetin and season 22 (U.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 any franchise of the show.[15]

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.[16] Reactions to the performance were mixed.[17][18][19]

A minor controversy arose following Tonioli's remarks to U.S. Dancing With the Stars contestant Michael Bolton and dance partner Chelsie Hightower on the 27 September 2010 after show, when the judge 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."[20]

This prompted ABC to release a statement firmly defending Tonioli:[21]

"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."