JoJo Siwa Joins ‘So You Think You Can Dance,’ Replacing Nigel Lythgoe – The Hollywood Reporter

So You Think You Can Dance has seemed to its personal previous to discover a choose to step in for the departed Nigel Lythgoe.

JoJo Siwa, who served as a choose on the Fox present’s seventeenth season in 2022, will rejoin the panel for season 18. The singer and actress will be part of SYTYCD all-star and choreographer Allison Holker and former Dancing With the Stars professional Maksim Chmerkovskiy on the judges’ desk for season 18, which is about to premiere March 4.

Lythgoe, a co-creator of So You Think You Can Dance, left the present in early January after being sued by Paula Abdul, who claimed that Lythgoe sexually assaulted her throughout their time working collectively on each American Idol — the place Abdul was a choose and Lythgoe an govt producer — and SYTYCD.

Abdul’s go well with alleges that in an early season of American Idol, whereas the present’s solid and crew have been on the street for auditions, Lythgoe pushed her towards the wall of a resort elevator and “grabbed her genitals and breasts and began shoving his tongue down her throat. Abdul attempted to push Lythgoe away from her and let him know his behavior was not acceptable. When the doors to the elevator for her floor opened, Abdul ran out of the elevator and to her hotel room. In tears, Abdul quickly called one of her representatives to inform them of the assault but ultimately decided not to take action for fear that Lythgoe would have her fired from American Idol.”

The go well with additionally alleges comparable habits from Lythgoe in 2015 when the 2 have been discussing Abdul becoming a member of So You Think You Can Dance.

Lythgoe has denied the allegations within the lawsuit, saying in a press release that “To say that I am shocked and saddened by the allegations made against me by Paula Abdul is a wild understatement. For more than two decades, Paula and I have interacted as dear — and entirely platonic — friends and colleagues. … Out of the blue, I learned of these claims in the press and I want to be clear: not only are they false, they are deeply offensive to me and to everything I stand for.”

In saying his departure from So You Think You Can Dance, Lythgoe mentioned he wished the main focus to stay on the constestants and that he could be “dedicating myself to clearing my name and restoring my reputation.” Lythgoe gained’t be credited as an govt producer on the forthcoming season.

Along with serving as a choose on SYTYCD, Siwa additionally competed on the thirtieth season of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, partnering with skilled ballroom dancer Jenna Johnson within the present’s first same-sex pairing. She was additionally a contestant on Fox’s Particular Forces earlier this season.