So You Think You Can Dance Renewed for Season 18 With a New Judging Panel — Including Nigel Lythgoe (Exclusive)

Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance has been renewed for an 18th season that will premiere Monday, March 4 at 9/8c and bring series co-creator Nigel Lythgoe back to the judging table.

On the dais, Lythgoe will be joined by Dancing With the Stars vet Maksim Chmerkovskiy and SYTYCD alum/Emmy-nominated DWTS choreographer Allison Holker. SYTYCD All-Star Comfort Fedoke — now an associate choreographer on the new Wicked film and associate choreographer for London’s Cabaret — will serve as a guest judge during the auditions.

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Cat Deeley, who has hosted SYTYCD since Season 2, will return as host, and all episodes will tape not in Los Angeles but for the first time ever in Atlanta. (Fox’s Snake Oil and LEGO Masters also shoot in Atlanta.)

“So You Think You Can Dance is television’s preeminent dance competition, and we are thrilled to bring the beloved show back for an all-new season,” Allison Wallach, President of Unscripted Programming at FOX Entertainment, said in a statement. “Reuniting Cat, Nigel, Allison and Comfort, and welcoming Maksim into the SYTYCD family, is sure to make Season 18 bigger than ever for their legions of fans around the globe.”

Season 18 will infuse the long-running dance competition with a new format “reflecting the authentic experience of building a successful career in dance, as so many So You Think You Can Dance alums have.”

Namely, each week, contestants will compete in new, intense dance challenges that will give them a real taste of the career, from performing in a music video or a football halftime show to going toe-to-toe on stage with a Broadway performer.

Eliminations will take place weekly, with the Top 3 finalists competing in the season finale, but only one will win the $100,000 grand prize and the highly coveted title of So You Think You Can Dance champion.

Season 18 will also debut new storytelling elements to “further capture the authentic ups and downs experienced by professional dancers.” For example, for the first time ever, in addition to the big spectacle dance numbers that SYTYCD has long been famous for, viewers will get a documentary-style inside look at the contestants’ dynamics, following them throughout the competition as they go through their personal and competitive journeys.

SYTYCD debuted in July 2005 and aired regularly for 16 seasons, through September 2019. After a multi-year hiatus, the dance competition returned in May 2022 with a 17th season — and a revamped judging panel comprised of onetime SYTYCD finalist Stephen “tWitch” Boss (who passed away last December; Holker was his wife), DWTS runner-up JoJo Siwa and sitcom vet Leah Remini.

(Note: So You Think You Can Dance producer dick clark productions is owned by a subsidiary of Penske Media Corporation, TVLine’s parent company.)

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