Matthew Morrison to be replaced on So You Think You Can Dance by Leah Remini of all people

Say what you will about Morrison (and much has been said), he at least has plenty of professional dance experience under his belt from his years of theater. In fact, the whole broken “competition production protocols” fiasco was supposedly because he wanted to connect with a contestant over “a mutual respect for a choreographer that [he’s] known for over 20 years.”

Remini, on the other hand, is not known for her dancing abilities. She did compete on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars’ 17th season (in which she placed… fifth), and has returned to that show to guest host and guest judge on a few occasions. That must have been enough to convince FOX to bring her on the panel.

Still, you’d think there was someone out there with similar levels of charisma who can also boast professional dance experience. Remini’s fellow judges are JoJo Siwa, who got her start on Dance Moms, and Stephen “tWitch” Boss, who is a SYTYCD alum. Those two replaced longtime judges Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe, both of whom have extensive dance resumés.

To add to the drama, Lythgoe, who co-created the show, revealed on Twitter in March that he had been ousted from his own program: “On a personally sad note, I have not been asked to be on the judging panel this season,” he wrote. “I don’t know who will be saying ‘Cue Music’ but I wish them well.” Ouch. Best of luck to Remini coming in after all that mess.