Tom Bergeron Reveals Why He Put up Christmas Tree Early & Showed His Fred Willard Santa Standee

Currently, people across the world are putting up their Christmas decorations in preparation for the upcoming holidays. Tom Bergeron also put up an “F-Covid” Christmas tree and next to it a cardboard cutout of Fred Willard in his home.

Tom Bergeron just can’t help his humorous side showing up at every turn. First off, the former “Dancing with the Stars (DWTS)” put up an “F-Covid” Christmas tree on Tuesday as seen in an Instagram post on the day.

Okay so yes, the novel coronavirus disease has wreaked havoc and taken many lives across the world, so it kind of deserves the swearing. However, the tree wasn’t the only decoration visible in the star’s home.

Just behind the tree and slightly to the side, fans noticed that a Fred Willard cardboard cutout stood in the corner. The cutout of the late actor kept the spirit of the holidays alive by wearing a Christmas hat.

In the caption of the post, Bergeron explained that he was, indeed, putting up his Christmas decorations over a week before Thanksgiving and weeks before Christmas. He shared that it was more than just an ordinary tree and called it “an F-Covid tree!”

Addressing the elephant, I mean the Willard in the room, the television personality confirmed that fans were seeing correctly. Noting that the reason for the cutout was a long story he wrote:

“Yes, that IS a Fred Willard standee wearing a Santa hat in the corner...it’s a long story.”

In a second Instagram post on the same day, Bergeron recorded himself explaining the long story about the Willard cutout. The former DWTS host explained to his fans how he ended up owning the cutout.

He recalled a 2010 episode of the ABC crime drama “Castle” where he co-starred with Willard in an episode titled “The Late Shaft.” In the episode, Bergeron played a late-night talk show host named Bobby Mann, while Willard played Hank McPhee.

McPhee was a disgruntled sidekick who ended up killing Bergeron on the show. Fast-forward to a fundraiser where Willard was honored for his charity work, an event he couldn’t attend because he was shooting a film elsewhere.

Tom Bergeron’s fans have been pushing for him to try and take Alex Trebek’s former post in responses on his social media posts.

His wife, Mary, attended and accepted the award her husband was honored with while standing next to the cardboard cutout Bergeron had in his home. The former DWTS host asked to buy the cutout from Mary because he found it hilarious that the man who’d killed him on “Castle” was now just cardboard.

So on Halloween, the former host puts up the cutout to scare children and during Christmas, it stands by the corner with a Christmas hat! Wherever Willard is, we are pretty sure he’s laughing along with the rest of his fans.

Sadly, the “Fernwood 2 Night” star passed away in May 2020, at age 86. Another big star who recently died is Alex Trebek (who was 80 years old), the longtime game show host of “Jeopardy!”

Bergeron’s fans have been pushing for him to try and take Trebek’s former post on responses to his social media posts. So far, it doesn’t seem the former host has responded to the requests.

The former DWTS host isn’t the only celebrity who’s ushered the holidays already. Kylie Jenner from “Keeping up with the Kardashians” recently shared an Instagram post where she was seen posing next to a modestly decorated Christmas tree in her home.