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Julianne Hough is making her grand return to “Dancing With the Stars.”
The two-time mirrorball champion is filling in as a guest judge for Monday’s Season 30 finale after her brother, Derek Hough, tested positive for COVID-19 last week, Page Six can confirm.
“Happy Monday everybody! I’m super excited because today you may see me do something that you’ve seen me do in the past,” Julianne, 33, teased on her Instagram Stories.
Derek is still under quarantine, but a post shared to the “DWTS” Instagram page revealed that he will appear virtually during the finale.
As Page Six previously reported, Derek announced via Instagram last Tuesday that he had tested positive for COVID-19 – hours after he was on set and part of the live “Semi-Finals.”
“Even though I’ve been fully vaccinated, I’ve just been diagnosed with a breakthrough case of COVID and just found out,” Derek, 36, said at the time. “I feel strong, but I’m currently taking advice from medical professionals, doing everything I can to get better as fast as I can.”
Derek had already sat out of an episode earlier this season – out of “an abundance of caution” – after potentially being exposed to COVID-19. Fellow judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli held down the fort in his absence.
The Season 30 finalists are certainly in good hands with Julianne, however. After competing on the show for six seasons, she returned to judge the show from 2014-2017.
Julianne will play a part in deciding which of the remaining dance couples will win the mirrorball trophy: JoJo Siwa and Jenna Johnson, Iman Shumpert and Daniella Karagach, Cody Rigsby and Cheryl Burke, or Amanda Kloots and Alan Bersten.
The “Dancing With the Stars” Season 30 finale airs Monday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
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