So You Think You Can Dance winner Joshua Allen dies aged 36

So You Think You Can Dance winner Joshua Allen has died aged 36.

The dance star’s family confirmed he died on Wednesday, but did not share his cause of death.

Allen won the fourth series of the US dance competition show in 2008, clinching the $250,000 prize money for the flagship Fox series.

His runner-up on the show was the late Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss, who died in December 2023, aged 40.

Allen’s family have told TMZ that they are asking fans for ‘privacy and prayers’ in the wake of his death.

His friend and fellow choreographer Emmanuel Hurd said he was shocked by the loss to the dance community, describing Allen as ‘a very honest, real person’.

‘He didn’t always do things the way that everybody thought he should, but that’s why he was a winner,’ Hurd told the publication.

Before competing on So You Think You Can Dance, Allen said he had taken modern dance and ballet classes, but had received no formal training.

Once he made it through several auditions for the show, he said he signed up for all the dance classes he could to expand his knowledge.

As for how he wanted to spend the show prize money, he told Entertainment Weekly: ‘I want to save [the $250,000 prize] and have it grow. I’m going to move out to L.A., of course, and follow my career.’

In 2011, the Texas native was cast as a dancer for the remake of the movie musical Footloose.

He went on to earn a number of TV show credits for his acting, including spots on NBC’s Community, FX’s American Horror Story and Step Up 3.

In 2017, Allen was sentenced to a year in county jail after pleading no contest to a domestic violence charge against his ex-girlfriend, Deadline reported at the time.

He was required to serve five years of probation, following the jail sentence, and a year of domestic violence counselling.