Photo: Meredith
With the recent dismissal of Matthew Morrison as a judge on So You Think You Can Dance, Fox has found his replacement.
Leah Remini has been announced as the replacement for Morrison. The 51-year-old actress will join Stephen “tWitch” Boss and JoJo Siwa at Wednesday’s judges’ table to observe the top 12 battles.
Even though Remini does not have similar dance background as her fellow judges – tWitch was a runner-up during the show’s season 4; while Siwa started her career young and was a runner-up on Dancing With the Stars season 30 – she is keen to join the competition series as “a great admirer of dancers.”
“I can’t wait to see the artistry that the contestants bring to the stage!” she said in a news release.
A month ago, Morrison was fired from the job due to violating “competition production protocols.” According to reports following his exit, he had “an inappropriate relationship with a female contestant.”
“They didn’t have sex, but he reached out to her through flirty direct messages on social media,” said the source in an interview with PEOPLE. “She felt uncomfortable with his line of comments and went to producers, who then got Fox involved. He was fired after they did their own investigation.”
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Morrison addressed the claims by saying they were “blatantly untrue,” and explained how he reached out to this dancer about working with a choreographer they both had a “mutual respect” for.
“Hey! It’s Matthew. If you don’t mind, would love to get your number and talk you through some things,” his full message said, as per the Glee star.
He added that his dismissal should not “take away from the show because dance has always been a unifying and healing modality.”
After three long years, the canceled show will be back with a new generation of hosts – Siwa, tWitch, and Morrison, announced Fox in April. So You Think You Can Dance premieres Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on FOX.
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