[1][2] In January 2024, Lythgoe departed from the show following a sex abuse lawsuit from former judge Paula Abdul.
The auditions for season 18 of So You Think You Can Dance took place in Pullman Yards in Atlanta, Georgia where all the dancers had to audition in front of judges Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Allison Holker, and special guest judge Comfort Fedoke.
[11] From the thousands that applied through video submissions, the Top 100 were invited to Atlanta to audition in front of the judges.
Notable dancers included Easton Magliarditi who auditioned for So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation, Jin Lee, who had dedicated her dance to Allison Holker's late husband Stephen "Twitch" Boss,[12] Kenidee Allen who had trained with Maks,[13] Kaylee Bays, a dancer that had been diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome that left her in a wheelchair,[13] and Mariyah Hawkins who had previously auditioned for So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation.
For the first time this series, the judges are solely responsible for which dancers are safe and which are eliminated, with no audience voting.