Cheryl Burke, 37, will be absent from the September 27 episode of Dancing With the Stars after contracting COVID-19. The DWTS pro shared the news with an Instagram video on September 26, one day before she was set to perform a salsa with her celebrity partner Cody Rigsby, 34.
She took a PCR test, which came back positive. Cheryl confirmed that she is fully vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine. She admitted that she’s been feeling “progressively worse” throughout the day and began to cry.
“I just feel so bad,” Cheryl cried. “I feel so bad for Cody. I feel like I’m letting him down. I just feel like sh*t, to be quite honest. And it’s so overwhelming because it’s Sunday, and the show’s tomorrow.”
She added, “I just hope I didn’t spread it. For those of you who don’t think COVID is a real thing, it’s f**king real, dude. So I have to quarantine for 10 days and I’ve been ordered to stay home… I’ll be in bed. I can’t believe this happened.”
She started her video at 7 a.m. on September 26. “Unfortunately, I am on my way to take a COVID test because not only do I feel scared and at a loss for words, I do feel run down a little bit, and I feel really sad because I don’t want to let Cody down.”
HollywoodLife reached out to ABC for comment, but the network did not immediately respond. ABC has not revealed what this means for Cody and whether or not someone will be replacing him while Cheryl recovers. Cody has also not spoken out yet about what happened with Cheryl.
Cheryl and the Peloton superstar debut on DWTS season 30 with a fierce tango. The pair earned a score of 24 out of 40 from the judges. The first elimination will go down during the September 27 episode. Dancing With the Stars season 30 airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on ABC.
