After Matthew Morrison’s sudden departure from “So You Think You Can Dance” Season 17, viewers began to speculate who the new judge would be. However, after two weeks of silence, actor Leah Remini announced that she would be filling Morrison’s empty seat for the series’ landmark 300th episode. “I am thrilled to join ‘So You Think Can Dance’ on its milestone 300th episode,” she revealed in a statement (via TVLine). “I look forward to guiding these incredibly talented artists through this competition as a fan of the show and an admirer of dancers.”
News of Remini replacing Morrison comes a few days after the latter gave further insight into his departure. “It’s really unfortunate that I have to sit here and defend myself and my family against blatantly untrue statements made anonymously, but I have nothing to hide,” he said viaInstagram on June 2. “So, in the interest of transparency, I will read to you the one message I wrote to a dancer on the show.”
After reading the aforementioned message to fans, he explained why he reached out to the dancer in the first place. “I sent this because this dancer and I both share a mutual respect for a choreographer that I’ve known for over 20 years, and I was trying to help her get a job as choreographer on the show,” he said.