Matthew Morrison Reportedly Fired From SYTYCD for Sending 'Flirty' Messages to Female Contestant

Just a few days after Matthew Morrison announced he's leaving So You Think You Can Dance, new details have emerged about his sudden exit. On Tuesday, People reported that Matthew Morrison was fired from SYTYCD "after he had an inappropriate relationship with a female contestant," according to a source close to the show.

"They didn't have sex, but he reached out to her through flirty direct messages on social media," the source told People. "She felt uncomfortable with his line of comments and went to producers, who then got Fox involved. He was fired after they did their own investigation."

The source noted that Morrison and the unnamed contestant "never met up off-set," but rather, "It was just messages that crossed the line."

So You Think You Can Dance Season 17 premiered on May 18, and news of Morrison's departure broke on Friday. At the time, Morrison said in a statement, "After filming the audition rounds for the show and completing the selection of the 12 finalists, I did not follow competition production protocols, preventing me from being able to judge the competition fairly."

As So You Think You Can Dance's audition rounds have been pre-taped, Morrison will likely continue to appear as a judge through mid-June. A replacement is expected to be brought in for the second half of the season.

Reps at Fox did not immediately respond to Primetimer's request for comment.

New episodes of So You Think You Can Dance air on Fox Wednesday nghts at 9:00 PM ET.  The show streams on Hulu.

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Deena ElGenaidi's writing has been featured in Nylon, MTV News, Insider, The AV Club, and more. You can follow her on Twitter @deenaelg.