Tucker Carlson - Dancing With The Stars

On August 14, 2006, the ABC television network announced that Carlson would be a participant in its fall 2006 Dancing with the Stars reality show.

Carlson reportedly took four-hour-a-day ballroom dance classes in preparation for the competition, and mourned "missed classes" during an MSNBC assignment in Lebanon. "It's hard for me to remember the moves," he stated. When asked why he accepted ABC's invitation to perform, Carlson responded, "I'm not defending it as the smartest choice, but I think it's the most interesting. I think if you sat back and tried to plan my career, you might not choose this. But my only criterion is the interest level. I want to lead an interesting life." He concluded, "I'm 37. I've got four kids. I have a steady job. I don't do things that I'm not good at very often. I'm psyched to get to do that."

The gambling site BetBet placed Carlson's odds of winning the competition at 15:1. Jerry Springer was ranked as having the longest odds of winning, at 30:1.

Carlson, who was paired with professional partner Elena Grinenko, was voted off on September 13. His performance on the previous night was the lowest ranked among the judges; the low score resulted from him spending much of the performance sitting down in a chair.

At the close of the show Carlson said that teaching him to dance was "like Einstein teaching addition to a slow child."