Mary Murphy courtesy Porfitron at en.wikipedia (CC-BY-SA 3.0)

“Mary has been unwell,” Lythgoe begins. “I’m delighted that Mary is back and I’m delighted that Mary is now well.”

Lythgoe did not disclose the nature of her illness - leaving that info to be shared by Murphy herself.

But, Murphy might not just be judging. Lythgoe admits that his ideal for SYTYCD is for Murphy and Emmy-winning choreographer Mia Michaels to “split the chair so I don’t lose either of them choreographing.”

In a perfect world, Lythgoe tells us, The pair will judge and choreograph.p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times; }h1 { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; page-break-after: avoid; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times; }p.MsoBodyText, li.MsoBodyText, div.MsoBodyText { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Times; font-weight: bold; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } “I love them as judges. I love them as choreographers. For me last year was sadly lacking of Mia in choreography in the competition.”

Murphy, a former ballroom dance champion, choreographer and famous for her loudly warm laugh, was gone last season after judging the two previous years.