Allison Holker and Stephen “tWitch” Boss Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage
Allison Holker will always remember her late husband, Stephen “tWitch” Boss, and his enduring legacy in the dance community.
“Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss was and will forever be an icon [and] a legend because he was truly the best at what he did,” Holker, 36, tearfully said in a first glimpse of the So You Think You Can Dance season 18 auditions, which was released via TikTok on Friday, March 1. “But also because he brought out the best in everyone around him.”
She continued, “To this day, for me, my children and everyone here, he’s still doing that. And how we honor him is by giving that life back because that’s what he would want too.
Holker and Boss met during SYTYCD season 7 when they were both tapped as “All-Star” mentors. They wed in 2013, nine years before Boss’ death. Us Weekly confirmed in December 2022 that Boss died by suicide at the age of 40. He is survived by Holker and their three kids: Weslie, 15, Maddox, 7, and Zaia, 3. (Weslie is Holker’s daughter from a previous relationship, whom Boss had adopted.)
As Holker continued to navigate her grief, she signed on to return to her So You Think She Can Dance roots and sit on the judge’s panel for season 18. The new episodes premiere Monday, March 4, and will see Holker search for America’s Top Dancer alongside Maksim Chmerkovskiy and JoJo Siwa. (Fellow former All-Star Comfort Fedoke will sit at the panel during the audition round.)
Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Comfort Fedoke, and Allison Holker Tom Griscom/FOX
“Allison has a huge background specifically relating to So You Think She Can Dance. She was an 18-year-old dancer herself on that particular show. That show had started her career. She had met her husband on [it and] they had made a life for themselves,” Chmerkovskiy, 44, exclusively told Us last month. “They’ve become two names in the world that we live in. So for her to be a part of this is fully justified and in my opinion, she brings a lot of fundamental elements of So You Think She Can Dance. She carries it across to this new format.”
When So You Think You Can Dance debuted on FOX in 2005, a panel of dance experts were tapped to discover the best up-and-coming performers. Nigel Lythgoe, who cocreated the competition series alongside Simon Fuller, served as one of the longtime judges since the season 1 premiere. However, after cueing the audition music and marveling […]
Chmerkovskiy, a former Dancing With the Stars champion, also noticed how Holker honored Boss’ legacy during filming.
“I missed tWitch. I wish that I got to do more stuff with him or any stuff really for that matter,” Chmerkovskiy added. “We never really crossed paths professionally, but Allison’s filling this place great.”
So You Think You Can Dance premieres on Fox Monday, March 4, at 9 p.m. ET.