Fans ofStephen “tWitch” Bossknew he had an incredible gift.
Here, a look at some of the dance routines that made him a star.
‘Mercy,‘So You Think You Can Dance
It was onSYTYCDseason 4 in 2008 that Boss earned a legion of devoted fans who admired the passion he showed for the art and the skills he shared with the world. But it was season 5’s “Mercy,” with contestant Katee Shean, that truly helped him stand out.
Boss reflected on the piece alongside Holker in a video posted to the couple’s YouTube channel in June of 2022.
“During that kiss we hit each other’s teeth so hard because we didn’t rehearse before,” Boss recalled of what fans called “the door routine,” which earned Mia Michaels an Emmy Award nomination for choreography at the time of its debut.
For more on Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss, listen below to our daily podcast PEOPLE Every Day.
“I liked that routine a lot,” Boss added. “The man I could bring to that routine now is so much different than the guy that was on stage then. I’ve got a couple more grays in the beard and have had a little more brown liquor than I did at the time, you know what I’m saying.”
‘Dreaming with a Broken Heart,‘So You Think You Can Dance
“It’s a lot to get over, I don’t dance in bare feet,” Boss said while reflecting on his work months ago. “But I’m not going to lie, this is one of those routines that I’ll remember forever. I was talking about textbook moments forSo You Thinkcouples, and Kherington really helped me out with this one a lot and really helped ease a lot of my insecurities around this, too.”
‘Outta Your Mind,‘So You Think You Can Dance
Boss’SYTYCDAll-Star dance to “Outta My Mind” with Alex Wong was “one of my proudest, if not my proudest, All-Star moment,” he said in an October YouTube video.
“This routine could’ve gone down really badly,” he continued. “Alex is a ballet dancer. So doing this routine was huge for him. And he wentbig. This was a moment for him, it was really dope. The ability and confidence that Alex brought to this, I remember hitting that last pose with him and just thinking, ‘Yo you just blew this place up my guy.’ "
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Boss also shared that he met future employerEllen DeGeneresbecause of the routine. “It was a gift that kept giving,” he said. “It started that entire journey. Ellen and I recreated this routine in honor of Alex because he injured himself the week after this, and [she and I] performed it on the [season 7] finale. It was a game changer for many reasons.”
His Many Dances with Holker
In February 2022, Holker and Boss looked back on some of the dances they did together over the years.
“This was our first time ever dancing together,” Holker recalled of an All-Star routine on an early episode ofThe Ellen DeGeneres Show.“We hadn’t even talked.”
“It was my first time on the Ellen show,” Boss added.
“That was so full circle,” said Holker.
Years later and then engaged, the pair took the spotlight on an episode ofDancing with the Stars.with musician Lindsey Stirling. “I was mad nervous to do this,” Boss said. “To dance with Alison is like dancing with a dance god. You can’t be out here half-stepping it at all. I remember being mad nervous this whole time.”
“It was really special to dance with you,” Holker added.
Anything fromThe Ellen DeGeneres Show
Though some of his dances during his time as DJ onTheEllen DeGeneresShowweren’t quite as technical as his other routines, he never stopped moving during his stint on the series.
In a tribute to Boss five years ago on her 2,500th episode, DeGeneres asked him, “Do you want to know my favorite thing we’ve added [to the show]? It’s you. I love you so much.”
source: people.com