“Dancing With The Stars” Contestant Cody Rigsby And His Partner Cheryl Burke Have Tested Positive For COVID

Ever since Hollywood returned to work, there’s been no end to the stories about how everyone is taking safety precautions very seriously and noses have been swabbed a minimum of 10 times a day and everyone is vaccinated and all that. So when Dancing With The Stars returned for their 30th season (and their first with a live audience since pre-COVID times), I would have just naturally assumed that the biggest health risk onset would be accidental lung poisoning from inhaling a mouthful of JoJo Siwa’s glue-soaked hair glitter. But nope, COVID is still very much a threat, which is something that Season 30 contestant Cody Rigsby found out the hard way. Cody tested positive for the virus shortly after his partner Cheryl Burke tested positive.

If you are not a Peloton user, then you likely don’t really know Cody Rigsby. He’s a FAMOUS Peloton instructor and one of fifteen stars chosen to compete this season. He’s been doing okay. Well, dance-wise. Health-wise, he’s all fucked up at the moment. On this week’s episode of DWTS, we learned in Cody’s little pre-taped pre-dance package that Cheryl had tested positive for COVID. Because of that, they couldn’t dance in-person this week, for the safety of everyone around them. Dancing while sick might and going on to score high might have been a cute ratings-grab before the pandemic, but coming to work sick with the virus is a massive no-no. Instead of dancing their salsa in the studio, ABC aired their practice footage instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv-YQP56Ttw

Cody and Cheryl received scores of sixes across the board, for a total of 24 out of a possible 40, which kept them safe for another week. That was Monday. Cheryl tested positive on Sunday. And on Thursday, Cody hopped on Instagram and shared that he too has tested positive for COVID, for the second time this year. via People magazine:

“I have tested positive for COVID again, the second time this year,” he began, adding that his symptoms – which include mild congestion, headache and cough – are not as bad as when he had the virus back in February before he was vaccinated.

“So that must be the vaccine antibodies working,” he said. “So we’re super grateful for that. As far as my fate on Dancing with the Stars, we’re still trying to figure that out right now,” he said.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUdoQLTJqNI/

Cody doesn’t come out and say that Cheryl’s germs were cha-cha-cha’ing with his immune system. But the timing kind of makes it pretty evident that he likely caught it from her. Or they could have both caught it from someone else that they have both been in close contact with.

As People and Cody point out, nobody really knows what’s going to happen on Monday night’s episode. If I had to guess, I’d say that Team Chody will be sitting next week out, and any additional weeks needed for them to regain their strength and bust out a foxtrot without coughing up congestion or wondering why they still can’t taste the glitter that fell out of JoJo’s hair and into their mouth. But speaking of, the upside to all of this is that Cheryl and Cody could use their COVID symptoms to their benefit when they do return to the dance floor. “Of course our outfits this week are gaudy, ugly, and tacky – we have no sense of taste, remember? We both got COVID!”

Pic: YouTube