Allison Holker Boss is back on the So You Think You Can Dance set. The dancer and widow of Stephen “tWitch” Boss will serve as a judge on the show’s forthcoming season 18.
Allison announced her arrival to the show in an Instagram Story on Thursday, marking her first return to the series since the death of her husband in 2022. From her trailer, she posted a selfie with the words “back on set” and a second photo thanking her glam team.
So You Think You Can Dance announced Allison as a new judge in December 2023. Her appearance follows in the footsteps of tWitch, who served as a judge in seasons 15 and 17.
For season 18, Allison will be joined by her fellow Dancing With the Stars alum (and SYTYCD newcomer) Maksim Chmerkovskiy and returning judge JoJo Siwa. Longtime judge Nigel Lythgoe was also scheduled to return but exited the show in January following claims of sexual assault.
Allison and tWitch both started their careers as all-stars on So You Think You Can Dance in 2010. Allison went on to appear as a pro dancer on Dancing With the Stars, and tWitch served as the beloved DJ on The Ellen DeGeneres Show for nine years. He died by suicide in December 2022 at age 40.
Last May, Allison opened up about her struggle moving forward after her husband’s death.
“Stephen brought so much joy to this world, and he deserves to be remembered as the beautiful man he was,” she said. “He was such a family man, and there’s so much of his love in this house. He brought so much love to this world. He did it with so much joy, and he was so cool when he did it, too. I want my kids to know that.”
She continued, “It’s been really hard because I can’t understand what was happening in that moment [he died],” adding that there was a night when she spoke to him under the stars and addressed those conflicting emotions.
“Stars are so important to me because that’s where we believe he is. I knew I wanted to have him find peace,” she said. “I was under the stars by myself, and I told him, ‘I forgive you, and I hope you’re with us.’ Talking to him and expressing all those emotions of forgiveness and sadness but also love and joy was so healing.”