There will likely be a change at the judging table of Fox’s veteran reality competition series So You Think You Can Dance, which was recently renewed for a 12th season to air next summer. I hear that Mary Murphy, who has been a staple on the show from the very beginning, may be leaving, and Fox is looking for a new judge addition to join co-creator/executive producer Nigel Lythgoe. I hear the network and series producers 19 Entertainment and Dick Clark Prods. are eyeing Paula Abdul, though sources caution that no formal discussions have been held.

 

That would mark a return of Abdul to Fox where she was a judge on American Idol and The X Factor. The dancer-turned-choreographer has SYTYCD experience — she was a guest judge during the 2013 season on Fox and a judge on this year’s cycle of SYTYCD Australia. Fox declined comment.

 

Next to Lythgoe, choreographer and former ballroom dance champion Murphy has been the longest-serving and most popular SYTYCD judge. She started as a guest judge in the first two seasons before being named a permanent judge alongside Lythgoe at the beginning of Season 3. Besides a break she took in Season 7, she has been a regular on the judging table ever since.