How Did Stephen Boss Die? What Happened to the SYTYCD Judge?
Allison Holker is continuing her husband Stephen “tWitch” Boss’ legacy on this season of So You Think You Can Dance. The late performer was a judge on the Fox competition series last season, but died in December 2o22. Holker will be taking over his judging duties on the upcoming Season 18, alongside returning judge JoJo Siwa and DWTS’ Maks Chmerkovskiy. What happened to Stephen “tWitch” Boss? We have all the details below.
So You Think You Can Dance (or SYTYCD) is Fox’s American reality dance competition series. Created by American Idol producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, the series has a similar format to the famed singing competition. Trained dancers from across the country audition in various cities with the hopes of impressing the judges and earning a spot in the Top 20. From there, the Top 20 dancers work with some of the best choreographers in the business and perform each week for a live TV audience who. By the end of the season, one dancer is crowned the winner through viewer voting and awarded $250,000. The series first premiered in 2005 and is currently on its 18th season.
Stephen “tWitch” Boss rose to fame when he competed on and placed second on Season 4 of SYTYCD. He went on to serve as a DJ on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and a judge for seasons 15 and 17 of SYTYCD. Not long after Season 17 wrapped, Boss passed away on Dec. 13, 2022, leaving behind his wife and their three kids. Read on for more details on Stephen “tWitch” Boss’ death.
What happened to Stephen “tWitch” Boss?
What happened to Stephen “tWitch” Boss? On Dec. 13, 2022, Stephen “tWitch” Boss died at age 40 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the Oak Tree Inn motel in Encino, according to the L.A. County coroner report obtained by the Los Angeles Times. He left a note before he died that alluded to “past challenges,” leading investigators to conclude Boss’ death was a suicide. Holker had reportedly filed a missing persons report with the Los Angeles Police Department the day before Boss was found dead by the motel’s housekeeper.
Holker announced her husband’s death in a statement to E! News. “It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to share my husband Stephen has left us,” she said at the time. “Stephen lit up every room he stepped into. He valued family, friends and community above all else and leading with love and light was everything to him. He was the backbone of our family, the best husband and father, and an inspiration to his fans.”
Four months after his death, Holker revealed to People that she and Boss’ inner circle did not have “any inkling that he was low.” She added: “He just wanted to be everyone’s Superman and protector … It’s been really hard because I can’t understand what was happening in that moment [he died].”
Now, Holker is an advocate for mental health initiatives and has even launched a foundation in his honor, the Move With Kindness Foundation. Her latest venture also honors Boss, as she is filling his shoes on So You Think You Can Dance. An alum of SYTYCD herself, Holker believes that her new role is “really good” for her. “It’s a really great step for my healing journey and being able to connect with someone I love so much. We can share this beautiful moment, and I can honor him,” she told Hollywood Life ahead of the Season 18 premiere. She continued: “But also for myself, it was a way for me to step forward and pivot myself to who I am now and what am I going to do with my future. It’s been a really great opportunity that So You Think [You Can Dance] gave me to step into the next chapter of my life as well.”
She and Boss first met at a party in 2006 and reconnected on Season 7 of SYTYCD, when they were both tapped as “All-Star” mentors. They got married in 2013 and shared three children together: Holker’s daughter from a previous relationship, Weslie Renae Fowler, whom Boss adopted, as well as son Maddox Laurel Boss and daughter Zaia Boss.
Season 18 of So You Think You Can Dance premieres on March 4, 2024, at 9/8c on Fox.
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