Already have an account?
Get back to the

Dancing With the Stars’ Cody Rigsby Reveals He Has COVID-19 After Partner Cheryl Burke Tests Positive

DWTS Cody Rigsby Has COVID19 After Partner Cheryl Burke Gets Sick
Cheryl Burke and Cody Rigsby. ABC/Eric McCandless

Cody Rigsby announced that he has contracted coronavirus after his Dancing With the Stars partner, Cheryl Burke, tested positive earlier this week.

Related: Stars Who’ve Tested Positive for COVID-19

“Hi friends, I wanted to check in with you to share some news. While I am fully vaccinated and took many precautions, following CDC guidelines, I recently tested positive for COVID19,” the Peloton instructor, 34, wrote via Instagram on Thursday, September 30. “To properly rest and recover as well as avoid exposing others, I will be taking a break in the coming days. I appreciate all your support and I’ll be back as soon as I am ready.”

In the accompanying video, Rigsby detailed his symptoms and revealed whether he will be able to remain in the competition. “I have tested positive for COVID again, the second time this year,” he explained. “I right now have really mild symptoms — congestion, little bit of a headache, cough — but in comparison to when I had COVID earlier this year, it is night and day, so that must be the vaccine and the antibodies working so we’re super grateful for that. As far as my fate on Dancing With the Stars, we are still trying to figure that out right now, so please be patient with that answer.”

Burke, 37, revealed in a Sunday, September 26, Instagram video that she had COVID-19 despite being “fully vaccinated” while competing on Dancing With the Stars.

Related: Stars Who’ve Spoken Out About Getting the COVID-19 Vaccine

“I have really bad news: I am positive, which means I have COVID,” she said at the time. “I just got the news now, and … I’ve been feeling progressively worse. The PCR test came back positive, and I just feel so bad.”

Burke shared that she felt “bad” for Rigsby because she thought she was “letting him down.” She added that she hoped she “didn’t spread” the virus to anyone else involved with the show.

The fitness instructor sent “all of my love and thoughts and healing energy” to the dancer via social media after her diagnosis. “The competition of Dancing With the Stars must go on. I will be competing,” he teased. “How… is to be determined, so stay tuned.”

Rigsby and Burke quarantined away from the rest of the cast during the Monday, September 27, episode. The judges scored the pair on their rehearsal dance instead of a live performance, and they managed to avoid elimination.

Related: 'DWTS' Partners Who Remained Good Friends

Rigsby told Us Weekly after Monday’s episode that rehearsals were “up in the air” for the next week as Burke recovered.

“We’ve got a few options here. … Option A is that I rehearse with a sub partner for the entire week, and I also perform with that person depending on when Cheryl is cleared. Then the other option might be I dance with a sub and then Cheryl is safe the day [of the show] last minute and dances with me on Monday,” he said. “That’s to be determined. All of this is kind of determined by people who know a lot more about COVID and CDC guidelines, so we’re at the helm of their duty.”

Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.

In this article

Got a Tip form close button
Got a tip for US?
We're All Ears for Celebrity Buzz!