Monday’s episode of “Dancing with the Stars” revealed how the show will forge ahead in light of Cheryl Burke testing positive for the coronavirus in the midst of the competition.
The dancing pro, 37, who is fully vaccinated, announced the news on her Instagram Sunday evening in an emotional video ahead of Monday’s night of performances. Due to procedures in place to ensure that the coronavirus doesn’t spread to more cast and crew members, Burke noted she would have to quarantine for at least ten days, thus missing a portion of Season 30.
Host Tyra Banks opened Monday’s episode by quickly acknowledging the situation and revealing how the show plans to go on with one of its dancing duos unable to come to the studio.
“She and Cody Rigsby were in close contact,” Banks explained (via Yahoo Entertainment). “Although he’s also fully vaccinated, out of an abundance of caution, he’s not in the ballroom tonight. However, this does not mean they’re out of the competition.”
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‘Dancing with the Stars’ addressed how Cheryl Burke and Cody Rigsby will move forward given her positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
(ABC/Maarten de Boer)
Banks said that, rather than have Burke and Rigsby perform in front of the live audience and judges, they would instead be judged based on a pre-recorded practice session in which they did their complete dance for the week. While it was a less-than-ideal way to measure their progress in week two, their score of 24 out of 40 wasn’t bad, all things considered. In the end, Burke and Rigsby were safe for another week as “Karate Kid” actor Martin Kove was the first contestant of Season 30 to get the boot alongside partner Britt Stewart.
After their performance, Burke and Rigsby were then brought in via video chat to sit for the judging portion of their dance remotely.
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This offered Burke a chance to update viewers on her condition and once again advocate for people to get vaccinated.
“I’m feeling OK. I’m just grateful that I got vaccinated so I know it could have been way worse,” Burke explained. “And I’m proud of Cody. He worked so hard this week. I just hope to be back soon in the ballroom.”
Burke first announced she had tested positive on her Instagram Sunday, noting that, although she was fully vaccinated with Moderna, she began to feel symptoms and got tested out of an abundance of caution.
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“The PCR test came back and it came back positive and I just feel so bad… I feel so bad for Cody, I feel like I’m letting him down,” Burke says while fighting back tears. “I just feel like sh–, to be quite honest. And It’s so overwhelming because it’s Sunday and the show is tomorrow.”
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She added later in the video: “Yeah, I figured I should let you guys know since I’ve been as open and as real and vulnerable as I could be here. I just hope I didn’t spread it. For those of you who don’t think COVID is a real thing, it’s f—ing real, dude.”