Tyra Banks on replacing Tom Bergeron on 'DWTS': 'I have serious shoes to fill'

"Dancing With the Stars" entered its 29th season with some big changes right out front: Namely, the exits of longtime host Tom Bergeron and contestant-turned-co-host Erin Andrews.

But replacement host and executive producer Tyra Banks says that she won't be behind any other enormous changes on the series.

"'Dancing with the Stars' is one of the biggest shows on TV, with a huge audience, and I really respect that," she recently told People magazine. "I can't come in with a battering ram and try to change everything. That would be a bad business decision and dumb leadership. So I'm not doing that."

The 46-year-old fashionista-turned-businesswoman-turned-reality-show-host (remember she created and hosts "America's Next Top Model") was hired after the show decided to let Bergeron and Andrews go.

Banks said she admires Bergeron. "I have serious shoes to fill. I have respect for him. And when the network called me, I sat on it for a very long time, because I knew what Tom had done. The host is the ringmaster. And I thought, 'Can I bring something fresh and exciting?' I called my mama and she said, 'You need to do this.' So I'm going to bring what I bring!"

Banks also said that "this is the right time" for the show, which returned Monday, to start airing again.

"People need to see hope right now," she says. "We need to exhale, turn off the news and turn on the fun. And we need to dance!"

"Dancing With the Stars" will next air Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 8 p.m. ET; after that, it returns to Mondays on ABC.