It’s unclear how ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” will handle the new development of season 30. Celebrity contestant Cody Rigsby has announced that he has tested positive for COVID less than a week after his partner, Cheryl Burke, announced her own diagnosis.
Update 10/1: “Dancing With the Stars” has announced in a piece reported by Entertainment Weekly that it will allow both contestants to compete separately and remotely in order to get votes and judge scores, meaning they will not be disqualified from the competition.
Burke announced in an Instagram video captioned “Have some difficult news to share…” on Sunday, September 26, that she tested positive for COVID-19 via a PCR test and would have to quarantine for 10 days before going back on the show.
She added that she’s fully vaccinated and that the fact she could have gotten COVID is “crazy.”
Rigsby said he is also fully vaccinated and had COVID-19 last year but that he is once again positive for the virus.
“Hi friends, I wanted to check in with you to share some news,” Rigsby wrote on Instagram. “While I am fully vaccinated and took many precautions, following CDC guidelines, I recently tested positive for COVID19. To properly rest and recover as well as avoid exposing others, I will be taking a break in the coming days. I appreciate all your support and I’ll be back as soon as I am ready.”
If Rigsby is taking the time to rest, then it’s likely that even if the couple were able to perform somehow for week 3, they would not have a lot of rehearsal time, as they have not had any in-person rehearsals.
The Couple’s Fate Is Unclear
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Burke told Heavy that she’d hoped to dance with Rigsby again for week 3 of the competition, but it’s not clear if that’s a possibility at this point.
“We’re just trying to figure out when the 10 days, if it was Sunday, Saturday, we’re still figuring out when exactly I got COVID, right? Because we do get tested often on the show. It just depends on that result, so I think at the end of the day, we’re hoping that the 10 days basically ends on Monday,” Cheryl told Heavy.
She said she would have “to test negative a few times, not just once” in order to get back onto the show.
It’s possible that, since both of the partners have tested positive, “Dancing With the Stars” will let them compete together in some remote capacity until testing negative. It’s not clear if that would be a fair choice, and it’s unlikely the network will go that route.
Week 3 Is Britney Week on ‘Dancing With the Stars’
The upcoming October 4 episode of “Dancing With the Stars” features tributes to Britney Spears.
”It speaks for itself. We’re doing a whole night dedicated to Britney. It’s a lot of support, a lot of love. We [support] #FreeBritney,” professional dancer Gleb Savchenko told Page Six after the second episode of the season.
He also shared that he and his partner, Mel C, will be dancing the tango to “Toxic.”
ABC and “Dancing With the Stars” have not responded to requests for updates on Rigsby and Burke’s fate in the competition at the time of writing.
“Dancing With the Stars” airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. Eastern time on ABC.
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‘Dancing With the Stars’ Partners Cody Rigsby & Cheryl Rigsby to Compete Separately & Virtually