Why 'Dancing With the Stars' Cast Member Bobby Bones Is So Controversial

From Country Living

Fall TV is officially back and with it is the return of ABC's 27th installment of Dancing With the Stars. This year's DWTS cast is full of celebs with fascinating backgrounds, including Olympic skier Danelle Umstead, Bachelorette heartthrob Joe Amabile (yes,the Grocery Joe), and The Facts of Life actress Nancy McKeon.

Battling it out on the ballroom floor will also be country music radio personality Bobby Bones. Bobby - best known for his iHeart morning program The Bobby Bones Show - is teaming up with pro Sharna Burgess in hopes of snagging the Mirrorball trophy. If you aren't a huge country music person, here's what you need to know about the controversial radio host:

For starters, his real name isn't Bobby Bones.

Bobby Bones was born Bobby Estell. He grew up poor, in a rural Arkansas trailer park, and 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. Bobby got his big break in 2013: He was tapped to move to Nashville, Tennessee, to host a syndicated morning show.

He has a 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."

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.

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 earlier this year, fans could not get over his resemblance to Ryan Seacrest:

After seeing a pic of them side-by-side, it's easy to see why:

He's already injured himself TWICE since signing up for Dancing With the Stars.

Yikes! Bobby revealed to People that since he began training for DWTS, he's already been elbowed in the mouth by Sharna ... two times! Both accidents were his fault, he says.

“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. I still don’t know what I’m doing. 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.”

Here's hoping Bobby's unlucky streak ends soon ...

Catch Bobby Bones and the rest of the season 27 Dancing With the Stars cast starting Monday, September 24 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

('You Might Also Like',)

• 60+ Grilling Recipes for an Epic Summer Cookout

• The Best Reese Witherspoon Movies, Ranked

• 70 Impressive Tiny Houses That Maximize Function and Style