When the news broke, a day before the live show, that Dancing with the Stars pro Cheryl Burke tested positive for COVID and would have to miss the show to quarantine, her celebrity partner, Cody Rigsby, assumed that he would still dance live with a sub.
“I thought I was going to dance with a sub (new pro, Sofia Ghavami) at first,” the popular Peloton instructor told Extra in an interview. “Then those people who know Covid more, gave their guidance and said that’s not an option.” Instead, DWTS aired the couple’s last rehearsal together before Cheryl’s diagnosis (Read our DWTS Recap)
“I’ve tested negative. Every test that I’ve had for the past three weeks has been negative. I wouldn’t have a mask if I were performing, so I think that’s also a big factor,” Cody, who battled COVID back in January, told reporters.
Cody really WANTED to dance live
“Do I wish that instead I got to perform with a sub instead of our rehearsal footage? Yes, of course,” he said in a post show interview with reporters. “We had worked on it, [Cheryl] had worked on it with me. I took all those notes that [Cheryl] had given me, came to the hotel room, mentally went through it. I was running through it on Sunday because I didn’t know what was going to happen, and there were all these little details and textures that I wanted to really perform. And how fierce was our costume? It was like, this fierce black floral print and I was so excited for it.”
But it was not meant to be. As for how the pair will approach next week, which is Britney Spears themed, Cheryl told reporters that she “won’t know until way later” if she can physically be around her partner since she must secure “three negative tests in a row to be back.”
Cheryl will coach Cody via Zoom
“[It could] be me last-minute showing up on Monday morning and being like, ‘Okay let’s do this without any practice.’ Meaning that he’s going to have to train with another professional dancer and I’m going to be there via Zoom,” Cheryl said. “He’s going to be going back to New York, so there are a lot of moving parts.”
But in the meantime, Cheryl will be coaching Cody via Zoom, and if Cheryl isn’t cleared by Monday, Cody will dance live with a sub.
The good news, is that Cheryl is feeling much better. “I feel weirdly normal except maybe a tiny headache, but that could be because of my tight pony,” Cheryl told reporters. “I feel great though. Yesterday was pretty bad. I was super congested and could not breathe out of my nose, but after a good night’s sleep, I feel normal.”
