The news broke on Sunday that Dancing With the Stars professional dancer Cheryl Burke tested positive for COVID-19.
This means that she has to quarantine for 10 days and will miss tonight’s big dance and next week’s episode as well.
From the sound of it, Cody Rigsby will continue to perform on the show, as Good Morning America mentioned in its Monday morning television episode that a substitute pro dancer would step in.
“As Burke enters a mandatory 10-day quarantine, her partner will dance Monday night with one of the show’s alternate pros,” GMA reported.
Here is what this means for DWTS.
Updated at 8:34 p.m. EST
Cody Rigsby will not have a substitute partner on tonight’s DWTS show as he also went into quarantine after Burke’s positive test.
Dancing With the Stars protocol for sick or injured pros
Luckily for Cody Rigsby, Dancing With the Stars has a protocol in place if a professional dancer falls ill or is injured.
There are two substitute pros on standby to step in to ensure that the celebrities don’t lose their chance at the Mirrorball trophy.
The two substitute dancers this year are Sofia Ghavami and Ezra Sosa
Both of the dancers’ talents and skills will be showcased as part of the competing couples’ dances throughout the season.
The two were on standby and were prepped to step in, in case a pro is injured, ill, or unable to compete in any way.
This is great news that Cody Rigsby has a pro to help him with his second dance. The bad news is that Sofia will only have one day to prepare for the dance herself.
Most of Cody’s fans hope he can move on even without Burke because next week is Britney Spears Week, and that should be perfect for Cody, as anyone who watches him on Peloton knows.
Who is Sofia Ghavami on DWTS?
Sofia Ghavami was born and raised in Miami, Florida.
She was trained in a variety of dance styles, but her passion is Latin Ballroom.
She competed on So You Think You Can Dance and appeared as a pro on Univison’s Mira Quién Baila.
The other alternate substitute pro dancer is Ezra Sosa.
Ezra Sosa is a Utah native, a US National Latin Ballroom Champion.
He’s best known for competing in So You Think You Can Dance Season 16, where he finished in the top 6.
The 20-year-old dancer has also appeared in national tours, movies, commercials and TV shows, including America’s Got Talent and World of Dance.
Dancing With the Stars airs on Monday nights at 8/7c on ABC.