Why 'DWTS' Finalist Bobby Bones Is the Show's Most Controversial Star
Country music radio personality Bobby Bones is quite the guy.
Apart from his iHeart morning program, The Bobby Bones Show, Bobby has made a name for himself on hit shows such as Dancing With the Stars and American Idol. If you aren't a huge country music person and/or are just trying to learn a little bit more about the guy, here's what you need to know:
For starters, his real name isn't Bobby Bones.
A post shared by Bobby Bones (@mrbobbybones) on Sep 24, 2018 at 8:32am PDT
Bobby Bones was born Bobby Estell. He grew up poor, in a rural Arkansas trailer park. Bobby was raised by his mother, who struggled with alcoholism, and grandmother, according to Forbes. He was also bullied a lot in school, yet he worked hard and eventually scored a gig as a Top 40s DJ in Austin, Texas. In 2013, Bobby got his big break: He was tapped to move to Nashville, Tennessee, to host a syndicated morning show.
He has security detail with him at all times.
Bobby caused quite a stir when iHeartMedia named him Nashville's head radio person for country music, the Washington Post reports. As the outlet notes, Bobby was set to replace DJ Gerry House, who was beloved by Music City at the time. To add fuel to the fire, Bobby had no background in country music and quickly earned a reputation for being outspoken. He's also gotten iHeart fined for $1 million after playing an emergency alert over the air.
Two years ago, he revealed to Rolling Stone that he had received "15 death threats" and has to have "security where ever he goes."
👋🏻 @laurenonfox7 . You are neato burrito
A post shared by Bobby Bones (@mrbobbybones) on Jun 28, 2018 at 8:21am PDT
He's also PO'd the guests. In 2014, Bobby and singer Kacey Musgraves got into it after Kacey claimed the host edited her interview to make her sound "uninterested and rude." Bobby ended up apologizing for the matter. He has reportedly also had minor feuds with Aaron Watson and Florida Georgia Line.
Bobby admits he's a "terrible" singer.
Just singing the hits with AJ from the Backstreet Boys. You already know !!
A post shared by Bobby Bones (@mrbobbybones) on Jun 4, 2018 at 6:44pm PDT
But that doesn't stop him from being the frontman for a comedy band called The Raging Idiots. On weekends (and occasionally during the week), Bobby books famous country faces - Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Jason Aldean, for example - to rock out with him. What started as a fun side hustle ended up as a way to raise money for charity. As Forbes pointed out, The Raging Idiots has raised millions for various organizations, including $2.2 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
People think he looks exactly like Ryan Seacrest.
When the country music radio host appeared on American Idol in April 2018, fans could not get over his resemblance to Ryan Seacrest:
Had never heard of Bobby Bones.....he's like a Ryan Seacrest mini-me #AmericanIdol
- K.R. (@nubohemian25) April 9, 2018
Me - Oh wow Ryan looks different tonight
Tv - Meet Bobby Bones
Me - Ohhhhh #AmericanIdol- #SurvivorBBFan (@BBAmbersMan2) April 9, 2018
Ryan Seacrest is Bobby Bones.
Bobby Bones is Ryan Seacrest.
Are they the same person?#AmericanIdol- Travis Glover (@1975jetsfan4) April 9, 2018
After seeing a pic of them side-by-side, it's easy to see why:
In 2019, Bobby is set to return to Idol as an in-house mentor for season 2 of the series.
He got injured while competing on Dancing With the Stars.
Yikes! Bobby revealed to People that he was elbowed in the mouth by his pro partner, Sharna Burgess, two times. Both accidents were his fault, he said.
Partner ....... is ....... 🤪🤪🤪🤪. Partner.... is .... not ... 🐰. (@sharnaburgess)
A post shared by Bobby Bones (@mrbobbybones) on Sep 15, 2018 at 3:42pm PDT
“I had to fill out a lot of paperwork, because I got hit really hard,” he said about one incident that led to him filing a dental claim. “There was blood and a tooth ... She was doing her spin thing, and she was doing what she was supposed to do, and my face was not doing what it was supposed to do.”
('You Might Also Like',)
