‘Dancing With the Stars’ Announces Status of Cody Rigsby After Cheryl Burke’s COVID Diagnosis

Dancing With the Stars was forced to do things a bit differently on Monday night’s episode. The day before the episode aired, Cheryl Burke announced that she tested positive for COVID-19 and had to quarantine at her home. Her partner, Cody Rigsby, said that he would still compete on the program, but it was unclear how that would come to pass given that he was in close contact with Burke. 

At the top of the episode, host Tyra Banks announced that Rigsby would not be performing in the ballroom because of the fact that he was in close contact with Burke. She also shared how the judges would be handing out the scores to Rigsby as a result of this change. Since he couldn’t be in the ballroom, Banks announced that the judges would be able to view Rigsby’s rehearsal with Burke that forced to do things a bit differentlytook place at an earlier date. After they viewed the pair’s salsa, the judges then shared their commentary with both Rigsby and Burke, who appeared over video chat. In the end, they received a score of 24 out of 40. 

Prior to the episode, Burke took to Instagram to share a video in which she explained how she tested positive for COVID-19. In the video, she explained that she was on the way to taking a COVID-19 test as she was feeling under the weather. Despite the fact that she is fully vaccinated and DWTS has strict safety protocols for the cast and crew, she ended up testing positive for the illness. 

“I have really bad news. I am positive, which means I have COVID,” she said while tearing up. “I feel so bad. I feel so bad for Cody, I feel like I’m letting him down. I just feel like s- and it’s so overwhelming.” Burke continued, “It’s Sunday and the show’s tomorrow. … I just hope I didn’t spread it. For those of you who don’t think COVID is a real thing, it’s f-king real. I have to quarantine for 10 days, I’ve been ordered to stay home. I can’t believe this happened.”

Since there was speculation about whether he would still be competing, Rigsby took to Instagram to address the matter. He said that he would be competing, but he wasn’t unsure of what that would look like at the time. The Peloton instructor also sent some kind words to Burke, saying, “First and foremost, I want to send all of my love, and thoughts, and healing energy to Miss Cheryl Burke.” He continued, “We have spoken a few times. She seems to be in good spirits and feeling well. But I have been through COVID and I know how crazy this virus can be and it can change at any moment, so just keep her in your thoughts.”