Kerre and Alex back as Rhys and Eric stumble to Covid
Comedian Rhys Mathewson and his dance partner, Phoebe Robb, are the latest cast members to leave Dancing with the Stars after testing positive for
Covid-19.
Mathewson and Robb will be replaced by Newstalk ZB host Kerre Woodham, who will return to the competition with her dance partner, Jared Neame.
Warner Brothers Discovery revealed the news yesterday in a statement, saying: “Kerre Woodham will return to Three’s Dancing with the Stars NZ competition, as stand-up comedian Rhys Mathewson and his dance partner, Phoebe Robb, have unfortunately tested positive for Covid-19.”
Woodham said she was “devastated” for the contestants who had to leave the competition.
“But the show’s gotta go on, and it certainly takes an awful whole lot of pressure off — the fact that we’re there to keep the show ticking over!”
It followed the news that fellow contestant Eric Murray was out of the competition after testing positive for the virus. The Olympic rowing great is now isolating at home.
“We have found out that Eric Murray has gone down with Covid which means that him and Loryn are now out of the comp,” host Sharyn Casey told The Project on Wednesday.
BBC Studios format rules indicated that in such a case the most recently eliminated contestant was to be invited back to the show, Three said, so Alex Vaz, who was eliminated on Monday night, was now back in with his partner, Brittany Coleman.
The Herald revealed the show had been hit with its first case shortly before Discovery announced the news on The Project.
Discovery released a statement in an all-media release 10 minutes after the show went to air.
Murray said he was “very disappointed that our ending has come down to Covid, but it’s always a risk we took at this current time”.
“I’m looking forward to watching my fellow competitors dance, and we’ll be back to watch the grand finale to celebrate who comes out on top!”
Brodie Kane, who dances in the competition with Enrique Johns, has revealed she is also feeling under the weather — and that Covid has broken out among crew members on the set of the show.
Speaking on her podcast The Girls Uninterrupted yesterday morning, she revealed she is “paranoid” about catching Covid and is feeling “run down”.
“I’m doing everything to try not to get it but the circle just keeps closing. There’s been people that have come to the show, people that work on the show that have had it.
“So you’re taking steps RAT testing every day because we’ve come too far now, have got to keep going.”
The cast, crew and staff members working on the show are required to return negative RATs every day before starting work at the Epsom studio.
Kane added that there are contingency plans in place if contestants test positive for Covid.
Many of the members of the cast have been seen on social media this week posting photos out with friends and at restaurants, with only a handful of celebrities not posting.
The positive results are a blow to the production, which was postponed last year for the second time in a row due to the Covid-19 restrictions in place at the time.
Live recordings of the performances take place on Sunday and Monday nights.
Dancing with the Stars airs on Sunday at 7pm and on Monday at 7.30pm on Three and ThreeNow.